Document Type
Article
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
2022
Journal
Science Advances
Volume
8
Issue
33
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.
DOI
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo1754
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Andrzejaczek, Samantha; Lucas, Tim C.D.; (...); Weng, Kevin; and et al, Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology (2022). Science Advances, 8(33).
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo1754
Figs. S1 to S3, Tables S1, S2, S4 and S5
sciadv.abo1754_table_s3.zip (17 kB)
Table S3
