Tag Archives: endangered animals

Statistical Models Inspired from Facebook could help endangered Animals, UF Researchers say

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Some endangered animals may live in smaller habitats than scientists realize, leading to inflated estimates of their ability to survive, according to a new University of Florida study.

However, by predicting the animals’ habitat movement using models employed to analyze human interactions on social networks such as Facebook, scientists with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences find the animals’ predicament could be better understood.

Conservationists can use this improved approach to better prioritize habitat restoration efforts for endangered species, said author Robert Fletcher, a UF wildlife ecology and conservation assistant professor. (more…)

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Prey-tell: Why Right Whales Linger in the Gulf of Maine

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As they might with most endangered animals, scientists consider the whereabouts and activities of right whales extremely important.  “It is helpful to know where they go, why they go there and what they do when they’re there,” says Mark F. Baumgartner of the biology department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Baumgartner and his colleagues studied the behavior of right whales and sei whales—both endangered species of baleen whales—in the waters of the Gulf of Maine to the east of Nantucket. They found that the location, the length of stay, and perhaps the very abundance of the whales may be dependent on an interesting vertical migration pattern by the copepods on which the whales feed. It seems to be a case, he said, of “how the behavior of the prey influences the behavior of the whales.” (more…)

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