The importance of sample size in marine megafauna tagging studies

A M M Sequeira¹, M R Heupel², M-A Lea³, V M Eguíluz⁴, C M Duarte⁵, M G Meekan⁶, M Thums⁶, H J Calich⁷, R H Carmichael⁸, D P Costa⁹, L C Ferreira⁶, J Fernandéz-Gracia⁴, R Harcourt¹⁰, A-L Harrison¹¹, I Jonsen¹⁰, C R McMahon^{10

12}, D W Sims^{13

14}, R P Wilson¹⁵, G C Hays¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ IOMRC and The University of Western Australia Oceans Institute, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia.
² Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB No 3, Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia.
³ Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, 20 Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tasmania, 7000, Australia.
⁴ Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos IFISC (CSIC - UIB), E-07122, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
⁵ Red Sea Research Centre (RSRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Australian Institute of Marine Science, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre (M096), University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009 Australia.
⁷ IOMRC and The University of Western Australia Oceans Institute, Oceans Graduate School, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia.
⁸ Dauphin Island Sea Lab and, University of South Alabama, 101 Bienville Boulevard, Dauphin Island, Alabama, 36528, USA.
⁹ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 95060, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, 2109, Australia.
¹¹ Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, PO Box 37012 MRC 5503 MBC, Washington, D.C., 20013, USA.
¹² Sydney Institute of Marine Science, 19 Chowder Bay Road, Mosman, 2088, New South Wales, Australia.
¹³ Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, United Kingdom.
¹⁴ Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Waterfront Campus, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom.
¹⁵ Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom.
¹⁶ Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

PMID: 31183944
DOI: 10.1002/eap.1947

Free article

Review

The importance of sample size in marine megafauna tagging studies

A M M Sequeira et al. Ecol Appl. 2019 Sep.

Free article

. 2019 Sep;29(6):e01947.

doi: 10.1002/eap.1947. Epub 2019 Jul 16.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ IOMRC and The University of Western Australia Oceans Institute, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia.
² Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB No 3, Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia.
³ Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, 20 Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tasmania, 7000, Australia.
⁴ Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos IFISC (CSIC - UIB), E-07122, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
⁵ Red Sea Research Centre (RSRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Australian Institute of Marine Science, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre (M096), University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009 Australia.
⁷ IOMRC and The University of Western Australia Oceans Institute, Oceans Graduate School, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia.
⁸ Dauphin Island Sea Lab and, University of South Alabama, 101 Bienville Boulevard, Dauphin Island, Alabama, 36528, USA.
⁹ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 95060, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, 2109, Australia.
¹¹ Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, PO Box 37012 MRC 5503 MBC, Washington, D.C., 20013, USA.
¹² Sydney Institute of Marine Science, 19 Chowder Bay Road, Mosman, 2088, New South Wales, Australia.
¹³ Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, United Kingdom.
¹⁴ Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Waterfront Campus, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom.
¹⁵ Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom.
¹⁶ Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

PMID: 31183944
DOI: 10.1002/eap.1947

Abstract

Telemetry is a key, widely used tool to understand marine megafauna distribution, habitat use, behavior, and physiology; however, a critical question remains: "How many animals should be tracked to acquire meaningful data sets?" This question has wide-ranging implications including considerations of statistical power, animal ethics, logistics, and cost. While power analyses can inform sample sizes needed for statistical significance, they require some initial data inputs that are often unavailable. To inform the planning of telemetry and biologging studies of marine megafauna where few or no data are available or where resources are limited, we reviewed the types of information that have been obtained in previously published studies using different sample sizes. We considered sample sizes from one to >100 individuals and synthesized empirical findings, detailing the information that can be gathered with increasing sample sizes. We complement this review with simulations, using real data, to show the impact of sample size when trying to address various research questions in movement ecology of marine megafauna. We also highlight the value of collaborative, synthetic studies to enhance sample sizes and broaden the range, scale, and scope of questions that can be answered.

Keywords: animal welfare; key questions; movement behavior; number of tags; telemetry studies; tracking data.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

Literature Cited

1. Adimey, N. M., M. Ross, M. Hall, J. P. Reid, M. E. Barlas, L. W. K. Diagne, and R. K. Bonde. 2016. Twenty-six years of post-release monitoring of Florida Manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris): evaluation of a cooperative rehabilitation program. Aquatic Mammals 42:376-391.
1. Allen, A. M., and N. J. Singh. 2016. Linking movement ecology with wildlife management and conservation. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 3:13.
1. Aven, A. M., R. H. Carmichael, M. J. Ajemian, and S. P. Powers. 2015. Addition of passive acoustic telemetry mitigates lost data from satellite-tracked manatees. Marine and Freshwater Research 66:371-374.
1. Aven, A., R. H. Carmichael, E. E. Hieb, and M. Ross. 2016. West Indian manatee movements reveal novel occupancy and distribution patterns in the northern Gulf of Mexico. PeerJ Preprints 4:e2072v1. https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.2072v1.
1. Biuw, M., et al. 2007. Variations in behavior and condition of a Southern Ocean top predator in relation to in situ oceanographic conditions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 104:13705-13710.

Publication types

Actions
Actions

MeSH terms

Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
- University of Western Australia Profiles and Research Repository
- Wiley

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

The importance of sample size in marine megafauna tagging studies

Affiliations

The importance of sample size in marine megafauna tagging studies

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

References

Literature Cited

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources