Convergence of marine megafauna movement patterns in coastal and open oceans
Convergence of marine megafauna movement patterns in coastal and open oceans
Date
2017-09
Authors
Sequeira, Ana M. M.
Rodríguez, Jorge P.
Eguíluz, Víctor M.
Harcourt, Robert
Hindell, Mark
Sims, David W.
Duarte, Carlos M.
Costa, Daniel P.
Fernández-Gracia, Juan
Ferreira, Luciana C.
Hays, Graeme
Heupel, Michelle R.
Meekan, Mark G.
Aven, Allen
Bailleul, Frédéric
Baylis, Alastair M. M.
Berumen, Michael L.
Braun, Camrin D.
Burns, Jennifer
Caley, M. Julian
Campbell, R.
Carmichael, Ruth H.
Clua, Eric
Einoder, Luke D.
Friedlaender, Ari S.
Goebel, Michael E.
Goldsworthy, Simon D.
Guinet, Christophe
Gunn, John
Hamer, D.
Hammerschlag, Neil
Hammill, Mike O.
Hückstädt, Luis A.
Humphries, Nicolas E.
Lea, Mary-Anne
Lowther, Andrew D.
Mackay, Alice
McHuron, Elizabeth
McKenzie, J.
McLeay, Lachlan
McMahon, Cathy R.
Mengersen, Kerrie
Muelbert, Monica M. C.
Pagano, Anthony M.
Page, B.
Queiroz, N.
Robinson, Patrick W.
Shaffer, Scott A.
Shivji, Mahmood
Skomal, Gregory B.
Thorrold, Simon R.
Villegas-Amtmann, Stella
Weise, Michael
Wells, Randall S.
Wetherbee, Bradley M.
Wiebkin, A.
Wienecke, Barbara
Thums, Michele
Rodríguez, Jorge P.
Eguíluz, Víctor M.
Harcourt, Robert
Hindell, Mark
Sims, David W.
Duarte, Carlos M.
Costa, Daniel P.
Fernández-Gracia, Juan
Ferreira, Luciana C.
Hays, Graeme
Heupel, Michelle R.
Meekan, Mark G.
Aven, Allen
Bailleul, Frédéric
Baylis, Alastair M. M.
Berumen, Michael L.
Braun, Camrin D.
Burns, Jennifer
Caley, M. Julian
Campbell, R.
Carmichael, Ruth H.
Clua, Eric
Einoder, Luke D.
Friedlaender, Ari S.
Goebel, Michael E.
Goldsworthy, Simon D.
Guinet, Christophe
Gunn, John
Hamer, D.
Hammerschlag, Neil
Hammill, Mike O.
Hückstädt, Luis A.
Humphries, Nicolas E.
Lea, Mary-Anne
Lowther, Andrew D.
Mackay, Alice
McHuron, Elizabeth
McKenzie, J.
McLeay, Lachlan
McMahon, Cathy R.
Mengersen, Kerrie
Muelbert, Monica M. C.
Pagano, Anthony M.
Page, B.
Queiroz, N.
Robinson, Patrick W.
Shaffer, Scott A.
Shivji, Mahmood
Skomal, Gregory B.
Thorrold, Simon R.
Villegas-Amtmann, Stella
Weise, Michael
Wells, Randall S.
Wetherbee, Bradley M.
Wiebkin, A.
Wienecke, Barbara
Thums, Michele
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DOI
10.1073/pnas.1716137115
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Abstract
The extent of increasing anthropogenic impacts on large marine
vertebrates partly depends on the animals’ movement patterns.
Effective conservation requires identification of the key drivers of
movement including intrinsic properties and extrinsic constraints
associated with the dynamic nature of the environments the animals
inhabit. However, the relative importance of intrinsic versus
extrinsic factors remains elusive. We analyse a global dataset of
2.8 million locations from > 2,600 tracked individuals across 50
marine vertebrates evolutionarily separated by millions of years
and using different locomotion modes (fly, swim, walk/paddle).
Strikingly, movement patterns show a remarkable convergence,
being strongly conserved across species and independent of body
length and mass, despite these traits ranging over 10 orders of
magnitude among the species studied. This represents a fundamental
difference between marine and terrestrial vertebrates not
previously identified, likely linked to the reduced costs of locomotion
in water. Movement patterns were primarily explained by the
interaction between species-specific traits and the habitat(s) they
move through, resulting in complex movement patterns when
moving close to coasts compared to more predictable patterns
when moving in open oceans. This distinct difference may be
associated with greater complexity within coastal micro-habitats,
highlighting a critical role of preferred habitat in shaping marine
vertebrate global movements. Efforts to develop understanding
of the characteristics of vertebrate movement should consider the
habitat(s) through which they move to identify how movement
patterns will alter with forecasted severe ocean changes, such as
reduced Arctic sea ice cover, sea level rise and declining oxygen
content.
Description
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2017. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 115 (2018): 3072-3077, doi:10.1073/pnas.1716137115.