Multi-Scale Habitat Selection of Greater Caribbean Manatees in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

Abstract

Habitat selection describes population distribution as a function of environmental features. It is a fundamental process with primordial ecological and evolutionary implications. To accurately describe habitat selection, it is important to identify temporal and spatial scales perceived by the population and use these scales when modeling. Despite the growing evidence on the importance of scaling in ecology, habitat selection studies of manatees remain limited to a single spatial scale. Here, we modeled Greater Caribbean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) habitat selection in the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Mexico, at two spatial scales: study area and 1-km buffer. We used GPS coordinates of opportunistic encounters (n = 102) and a pseudo-absence approach to model manatee presence as a function of seagrass abundance, water depth, and distances to land, creeks, and seafloor depressions. To capture environmental variability, models were repeated 500 times, with each iteration using a different set of randomly generated pseudo-absences. The probability of manatee presence increased in proximity to seafloor depressions at both scales and increased with land proximity at the large scale only. This study demonstrates the importance of multi-scale designs in habitat selection and highlights the need for more studies looking at the ecological implications of seafloor depressions for manatees.