title: Global climate drives southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) population dynamics.
abstract: Sea surface temperature (SST) time-series from the southwest Atlantic and the El Niño 4 region in the western Pacific were compared to an index of annual calving success of the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) breeding in Argentina. There was a strong relationship between right whale calving output and SST anomalies at South Georgia in the autumn of the previous year and also with mean El Niño 4 SST anomalies delayed by 6 years. These results extend similar observations from other krill predators and show clear linkages between global climate signals and the biological processes affecting whale population dynamics.
authors.affiliation: International Fund for Animal Welfare, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London 1 7UD, UK. russell@ivyt.demon.co.uk
authors.forename: Russell
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leaper
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cooke
authors.forename: Phil
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Trathan
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rowntree
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Payne
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002980:Climate; D004190:Disasters; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012098:Reproduction; D013696:Temperature; D014907:Whales / Q000502:physiology*