PONE-D-21-28218Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) breeding habitat on the landfast ice in northwest Alaska during spring 1983 and 1984PLOS ONE

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"We are grateful to the North Pacific Research Board for funding this analysis (Grant No. 1811). This analysis builds on a project entitled “Winter Ecology of Ringed Seals in Alaska” conducted by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game and funded by the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program as RU 232 under contract NA-81-RAC-00045. Many people contributed to that project"

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: PONE-D-21-28218

Hauser, Frost, & Burns; “Ringed seal breeding habitat. ..”

Boveng review comments

This is a highly useful report on historical baseline measures of habitat for ringed seals, an abundant and important species that is vulnerable to loss of snow-covered sea-ice habitat in a rapidly warming Arctic. Although the study analyzes and presents for the first time a data set that was collected almost 40 years ago, it is very timely for ongoing efforts to understand the degree of risk posed to ringed seals by Arctic warming.

The work done in 1983-1984 to collect the data was undoubtably arduous; in situ studies of ringed seal habitat have been, and are likely to remain infrequent, so it is fortunate that the authors undertook the effort to ‘rescue’ the data and bring them into a form for contemporary analysis and sharing. The GIS and statistical methods appear to be appropriate and practical for the nature of the data.

The results add a reference baseline for quantifying ringed seal habitat characteristics in the eastern Chukchi Sea prior to discernible changes in sea ice and snow regimes, providing geographic contrast and comparison to studies done elsewhere in Arctic ringed seals’ range. The results corroborate some simplistic measures of habitat suitability that have been put forward previously, though the authors correctly note that the utility of these measures will remain somewhat tentative and difficult to gauge. Still, this will be a very helpful addition to the literature on the topic.

I found the interpretations of the results, the comparisons to related studies, and the assessment of this paper’s relevance to current ringed seal conservation topics to be appropriate and well-reasoned. I made minor comments and suggestions for the authors’ consideration, in markup on the attached copy of the manuscript. Most are likely to be of little consequence, though I do encourage consideration and perhaps discussion of two potential biases: One, marked as a comment at lines 228-231, is the possibility that late-season measurement of access hole size at grid 83-2 led to upward bias from melting at open structures. The second, marked at lines 381-382 is that differential (i.e., lower) detectability of breathing holes relative to lairs in areas of deformed ice could cause or contribute to biased proportions of structure types.

Congratulations on a nice paper.

Reviewer #2: This study offers important insight into the breeding habitat of ringed seals in the Chukchi Sea. The authors have made use of an historical dataset to describe breeding habitat and describe habitat dimensions and environmental conditions, specifically, ice and snow conditions at pup lairs and other structures, during a period prior to recent large-scale climatic changes in the Pacific Arctic. They have also described the spatial and temporal variability of structure densities. These summaries provide context for current conditions.

This study will help to contribute to our understanding of breeding habitat and serve as a baseline of information prior the environmental changes resulting from climate change. These findings may also be valuable for managers, specifically those involved with determining the status of ringed seals.

It is important that this paper is published. Overall, I have no substantive concerns, but I do have some suggestions, comments, and questions that I think will improve the manuscript.

General concerns throughout the manuscript:

Throughout, change use of “haulout lair(s)” to “haul-out lair(s)”. Used this way, “haul-out” is an adjective and should be hyphenated. Other examples include haul-out data, haul-out behavior. If it were used as a noun it would be one word, “haulout”. If it were used as a verb it would be two words, “haul out”. I’ve noted a few of the instances where this needs to be changed early in the manuscript in the line-by-line comments below but I did not identify every instance. I suggest searching the entire manuscript, including figure and table captions.

Punctuation used to cite references is not consistent; sometimes they are cited using parentheses “()” and others brackets “[]”. I’m sure the copy editor would identify these instances but the authors can correct these for the next submission. Please use the appropriate punctuation for this PLOS One and be consistent through-out the paper. For example, in the paragraph starting on line 460, through 477, brackets are used 4 times and parentheses used twice. Similar to my comment above, I’ve noted a few of the instances where this needs to be changed in the line-by-line comments below but I did not identify every instance.

The order of the methods as outlined by the subsection titles and headings is a logical progression. However, some paragraphs that describe the methods should be moved to other subsections better match the progression of steps and titles of the subsections should be changed to represent the new order. See comments below.

Please note my comments regarding the proper use of the terms “digital”, “digitized”, and “digitizing” versus “plotting” and “mapping” in reference to data used in a GIS as they have very specific meanings.

Some sentences are overly verbose and could be more succinct, particularly in the Discussion. Generally, the Discussion is long and the authors should look for opportunities to make this section more succinct. However, the authors did well to compare their results to studies of ringed seals in other areas. They also framed their findings in context to observed and predicted changes in environmental conditions. Although this is appropriate and an important aspect of this manuscript, the authors should scale back their pessimism and strong language regarding predictions. While some studies have identified changes in ringed seal health associated with climate change, these changes have not been universally negative. I do think describing these predictions is appropriate. However, describing such predictions with such certainty is outside the scope of this study.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any question.

Justin Crawford

Please see my review attached to this submission.

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Peter Boveng

Reviewer #2: No

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Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) breeding habitat on the landfast ice in northwest Alaska during spring 1983 and 1984

PONE-D-21-28218R1

Dear Dr. Hauser,

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