Spatial reorganization during post-collapse population growth suggests conspecific attraction in baleen whale nursing grounds
- 1Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart 7000, TAS, Australia
- 2Australian Marine Mammal Centre, Australian Antarctic Division, Australian Government, Kingston 7050, TAS, Australia
- 3Australian Antarctic Program Partnership, University of Tasmania, Hobart 7000, TAS, Australia
Abstract
Habitat use is strongly interlinked with population dynamics and plays an important role in population regulation. Animals frequently modify their habitat use behavior in response to major changes in population density. This is well studied in contexts wherein resources are limiting: for example, when changes in habitat use behavior reduce pressure from resource limitations. Situations wherein resource limitations are relaxed, such as upon recovery from severe declines, remain poorly studied. Here, we study how the spatial distribution of a nearly extirpated animal population changed during population recovery. We study a population of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis), a migratory species that was nearly extirpated by whaling. Using large-scale annual aerial survey data (1976–2023), we assess how spatial distribution patterns at nursing grounds changed as annual coastal abundances grew from few individuals to a few hundred. This includes assessment of the species’ characteristic site fidelity at a uniquely large spatiotemporal scale. We observed weaker fidelity to specific sites than generally assumed for Australian southern right whales and found strong indications that conspecific attraction influences the species’ coastal habitat selection. Distribution patterns initially displayed strong dispersal but became increasingly clustered coincident with substantial growth in annual whale abundances. This transition captures a rare example of a population crossing a behavioral threshold, possibly reflecting a switch in behavioral strategy or lack of conspecific cues. Our findings suggest that the behavioral processes governing habitat selection can shift with population density, driving substantial reorganization of populations’ spatial structure during substantial demographic change.
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BibTeX
@article{grundlehner2026spatial,
title = {{Spatial reorganization during post-collapse population growth suggests conspecific attraction in baleen whale nursing grounds}},
author = {Anne Grundlehner and Virginia Andrews-Goff and Michael C. Double and Joshua N. Smith and Madeleine J. Brasier and Katherine A. Cresswell and Stuart P. Corney},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2602745123},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2602745123},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Spatial reorganization during post-collapse population growth suggests conspecific attraction in baleen whale nursing grounds
AU - Anne Grundlehner
AU - Virginia Andrews-Goff
AU - Michael C. Double
AU - Joshua N. Smith
AU - Madeleine J. Brasier
AU - Katherine A. Cresswell
AU - Stuart P. Corney
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/26
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2602745123
UR - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2602745123
AB - Habitat use is strongly interlinked with population dynamics and plays an important role in population regulation. Animals frequently modify their habitat use behavior in response to major changes in population density. This is well studied in contexts wherein resources are limiting: for example, when changes in habitat use behavior reduce pressure from resource limitations. Situations wherein resource limitations are relaxed, such as upon recovery from severe declines, remain poorly studied. Here, we study how the spatial distribution of a nearly extirpated animal population changed during population recovery. We study a population of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis), a migratory species that was nearly extirpated by whaling. Using large-scale annual aerial survey data (1976–2023), we assess how spatial distribution patterns at nursing grounds changed as annual coastal abundances grew from few individuals to a few hundred. This includes assessment of the species’ characteristic site fidelity at a uniquely large spatiotemporal scale. We observed weaker fidelity to specific sites than generally assumed for Australian southern right whales and found strong indications that conspecific attraction influences the species’ coastal habitat selection. Distribution patterns initially displayed strong dispersal but became increasingly clustered coincident with substantial growth in annual whale abundances. This transition captures a rare example of a population crossing a behavioral threshold, possibly reflecting a switch in behavioral strategy or lack of conspecific cues. Our findings suggest that the behavioral processes governing habitat selection can shift with population density, driving substantial reorganization of populations’ spatial structure during substantial demographic change.
SN - 0027-8424
SN - 1091-6490
ER -