A global perspective on the trophic geography of sharks

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Author(s)
Bird, Christopher S
Verissimo, Ana
Magozzi, Sarah
Abrantes, Katya G
Aguilar, Alex
Al-Reasi, Hassan
Barnett, Adam
Bethea, Dana M
Biais, Gerard
Borrell, Asuncion
Bouchoucha, Marc
Boyle, Mariah
Brooks, Edward J
Brunnschweiler, Juerg
Bustamante, Paco
Carlisle, Aaron
Catarino, Diana
Caut, Stephane
Cherel, Yves
Chouvelon, Tiphaine
Churchill, Diana
Ciancio, Javier
Claes, Julien
Colaco, Ana
Courtney, Dean L
Cresson, Pierre
Daly, Ryan
de Necker, Leigh
Endo, Tetsuya
Figueiredo, Ivone
Frisch, Ashley J
Hansen, Joan Holst
Heithaus, Michael
Hussey, Nigel E
Iitembu, Johannes
Juanes, Francis
Kinney, Michael J
Kiszka, Jeremy J
Klarian, Sebastian A
Kopp, Dorothee
Leaf, Robert
Li, Yunkai
Lorrain, Anne
Madigan, Daniel J
Maljkovic, Aleksandra
Malpica-Cruz, Luis
Matich, Philip
Meekan, Mark G
Menard, Frederic
Menezes, Gui M
Munroe, Samantha EM
Newman, Michael C
Papastamatiou, Yannis P
Pethybridge, Heidi
Plumlee, Jeffrey D
Polo-Silva, Carlos
Quaeck-Davies, Katie
Raoult, Vincent
Reum, Jonathan
Torres-Rojas, Yassir Eden
Shiffman, David S
Shipley, Oliver N
Speed, Conrad W
Staudinger, Michelle D
Teffer, Amy K
Tilley, Alexander
Valls, Maria
Vaudo, Jeremy J
Wai, Tak-Cheung
Wells, RJ David
Wyatt, Alex SJ
Yool, Andrew
Trueman, Clive N
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2018
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Show full item recordAbstract
Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fixation of carbon atoms that were ultimately assimilated into muscle tissues of 5,394 sharks from 114 species, we identify globally consistent biogeographic traits in trophic interactions between sharks found in different habitats. We show that populations of shelf-dwelling sharks ...
View more >Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fixation of carbon atoms that were ultimately assimilated into muscle tissues of 5,394 sharks from 114 species, we identify globally consistent biogeographic traits in trophic interactions between sharks found in different habitats. We show that populations of shelf-dwelling sharks derive a substantial proportion of their carbon from regional pelagic sources, but contain individuals that forage within additional isotopically diverse local food webs, such as those supported by terrestrial plant sources, benthic production and macrophytes. In contrast, oceanic sharks seem to use carbon derived from between 30° and 50° of latitude. Global-scale compilations of stable isotope data combined with biogeochemical modelling generate hypotheses regarding animal behaviours that can be tested with other methodological approaches.
View less >
View more >Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fixation of carbon atoms that were ultimately assimilated into muscle tissues of 5,394 sharks from 114 species, we identify globally consistent biogeographic traits in trophic interactions between sharks found in different habitats. We show that populations of shelf-dwelling sharks derive a substantial proportion of their carbon from regional pelagic sources, but contain individuals that forage within additional isotopically diverse local food webs, such as those supported by terrestrial plant sources, benthic production and macrophytes. In contrast, oceanic sharks seem to use carbon derived from between 30° and 50° of latitude. Global-scale compilations of stable isotope data combined with biogeochemical modelling generate hypotheses regarding animal behaviours that can be tested with other methodological approaches.
View less >
Journal Title
Nature ecology & evolution
Volume
2
Copyright Statement
© 2018 Springer Nature Publishing AG. This is an electronic version of an article published in Nature Ecology & Evolutionvolume 2, pages299–305 (2018). Nature Ecology & Evolution is available online at: http://link.springer.com/ with the open URL of your article.
Subject
Ecology not elsewhere classified
Sharks
Carbon atoms
Biogeographic traits
Shelf-dwelling sharks
Oceanic sharks
Animal behaviours