Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology

Samantha Andrzejaczek, Tim C. D. Lucas, Maurice C. Goodman, Nigel E Hussey, Amelia J. Armstrong, Aaron B Carlisle, Daniel M. Coffey, Adrian C. Gleiss, Charlie Huveneers, David M. P. Jacoby, Mark G Meekan, Johann Mourier, Lauren R. Peel, Katya Abrantes, Andre S. Afonso, Matthew J. Ajemian, Brooke N. Anderson, Scot D. Anderson, Gonzalo Araujo, Asia O. ArmstrongPascal Bach, Adam Barnett, Mike B. Bennett, Natalia P. A. Bezerra, Ramon Bonfil, Andre M. Boustany, Heather D. Bowlby, Ilka Branco, Carmin D. Braun, Edward J. Brooks, Judith Brown, Patrick J. Burke, Paul Butcher, Michael Castleton, Taylor K Chapple, Olivier Chateau, Maurice Clarke, Rui Coelho, Enric Cortes, Lydie I. E. Couturier, Paul D. Cowley, Donald A. Croll, Juan M. Cuevas, Tobey H. Curtis, Laurent Dagorn, Jonathan J. Dale, Ryan Daly, Heidi Dewar, Philip D. Doherty, Andres Domingo, Alistair D. M. Dove, Michael Drew, Christine L. Dudgeon, Clinton A. J. Duffy, Riley G. Elliott, Jim R. Ellis, Mark V. Erdmann, Thomas J. Farrugia, Luciana C Ferreira, Francesco Ferretti, John D Filmalter, Brittany Finucci, Chris Fischer, Richard Fitzpatrick, Fabien Forget, Kerstin Forsberg, Malcolm P. Francis, Bryan R. Franks, Austin J. Gallagher, Felipe Galva-Magana, Mirta L. Garcia, Troy F. Gaston, Bronwyn M. Gillanders, Matthew J Gollock, Jonathan R. Green, Sofia Green, Christopher A. Griffiths, Neil Hammerschlag, Abdi Hasan, Lucy A. Hawkes, Fabio H.V. Hazin, Matthew Heard, Alex Hearn, Suzanne M. Henderson, John C Holdsworth, Kim N. Holland, Lucy A. Howey, Robert E. Hueter, Nicolas E. Humphries, Melanie Hutchinson, Fabrice R. A. Jaine, Salvador J. Jorgensen, Paul E. Kanive, Jessica Labaja, Fernanda O. Lana, Hugo Lassauce, Rebecca S. Lipscombe, Fiona Llewellyn, Bruno C. L. Macena, Ronald Mambrasar, Jaime D McAllister, Sophy R. McCully Phillips, Frazer McGregor, Matthew N. McMillan, Lianne M. McNaughton, Sibele A. Mendonça, Carl G. Meyer, Megan Meyers, John A. Mohan, John C. Montgomery, Gonzalo Mucientes, Michael K. Musyl, Nicole Nasby-Lucas, Lisa Natanson, John B. O'Sullivan, Paulo Oliveira, Yannis P Papastamatiou, Toby A. Patterson, Simon J. Pierce, Nuno Queiroz, Craig A. Radford, Andy J. Richardson, Anthony J. Richardson, David Righton, Christoph A Rohner, Mark A. Royer, Ryan A. Saunders, Matthias Schaber, Robert J. Schallert, Michael C. Scholl, Andrew C. Seitz, Jayson M Semmens, Edy Setyawan, Brendan D. Shea, Rafid A. Shidqi, George Shillinger, Oliver N. Shipley, Mahmood Shivji, Abraham B. Sianipar, Joana F. Silva, David W. Sims, Gregory B Skomal, Lara L. Sousa, Emily J Southall, Julia L. Y. Spaet, Killian M. Stehfest, Guy Stevens, Joshua D. Stewart, James Sulikowski, Ismail Syakurachman, Simon R Thorrold, Michele Thums, David Tickler, Mariana T. Tolloti, Kathy A. Townsend, Paulo Travassos, John P Tyminski, Jeremy Vaudo, Drausio Veras, Laurent Wantiez, Sam B. Weber, R.J. David Wells, Kevin C. Weng, Bradley M. Wetherbee, Jane E. Williamson, Matthew J. Witt, Serena Wright, Kelly Zilliacus, Barbara A. Block, David J. Curnick

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements.

Original languageAmerican English
JournalScience Advances
Volume8
Issue number33
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 19 2022

Funding

We would like to thank all the organizations that funded the studies contributing to this work and those who supported the collection of the data used within this manuscript. Data analysis was funded by the Bertarelli Foundation through the Marine Science program through grants to D.J.C., B.A.B., and S.A. D.J.C. is also funded through Research England, UK. S.A. and B.A.B. thank the Moore Foundation and the Packard Foundation. F.G.-M. thanks the Instituto Politecnico Nacional for fellowships (COFAA, EDI). S.B.W. thanks funding from the Darwin Initiative (DPLUS046). A.D.M.D. acknowledges funding from the Research and Conservation Budget at Georgia Aquarium, including philanthropic gifts from several anonymous donors. K.F. acknowledges funding from the Rolex Awards for Enterprise and the Whitley Fund for Nature.

FundersFunder number
Darwin InitiativeDPLUS046
Georgia Aquarium
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Blanche Moore Foundation
Fondation Bertarelli
Rolex
Instituto Politécnico Nacional

    ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

    • General

    Disciplines

    • Marine Biology

    Cite this