Convergence of marine megafauna movement patterns in coastal and open oceans

Authors

A. M.M. Sequeira, The University of Western Australia
J. P. Rodríguez, Universitat de les Illes Balears
V. M. Eguíluz, Universitat de les Illes Balears
R. Harcourt, Macquarie University
M. Hindell, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
D. W. Sims, Marine Biological Association
C. M. Duarte, The University of Western Australia
D. P. Costa, University of California, Santa Cruz
J. Fernández-Gracia, Universitat de les Illes Balears
L. C. Ferreira, The University of Western Australia
G. C. Hays, Deakin University, School of Life and Environmental Sciences
M. R. Heupel, Australian Institute of Marine Science
M. G. Meekan, The University of Western Australia
A. Aven, Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory
F. Bailleul, South Australian Research and Development Institute
A. M.M. Baylis, South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute
M. L. Berumen, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
C. D. Braun, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
J. Burns, University of Alaska Anchorage
M. J. Caley, Queensland University of Technology
R. Campbell, Science Division
R. H. Carmichael, Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory
E. Clua, École Pratique des Hautes Études
L. D. Einoder, South Australian Research and Development Institute
Ari Friedlaender, University of California, Santa Cruz
M. E. Goebel, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
S. D. Goldsworthy, South Australian Research and Development Institute
C. Guinet, La Rochelle Université
J. Gunn, Australian Institute of Marine Science

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

3-20-2018

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 analyze 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 patternswhenmoving close to coasts compared with more predictable patterns when moving in open oceans. This distinct difference may be associated with greater complexity within coastal microhabitats, 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.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Volume

115

Issue

12

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