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116 results for “marine predator”
Data from: Climate drives the geography of marine consumption by changing predator communities
<p>The global distribution of primary production and consumption by humans (fisheries) is well-documented, but we have no map linking the central ecological process of consumption within food webs to temperature and other ecological drivers. Using standardized assays that span 105° of latitude on four continents, we show that rates of bait consumption by generalist predators in shallow marine ecosystems are tightly linked to both temperature and the composition of consumer assemblages. Unexpectedly, rates of consumption peaked at midlatitudes (25 to 35°) in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres across both seagrass and unvegetated sediment habitats. This pattern contrasts with terrestrial systems, where biotic interactions reportedly weaken away from the equator, but it parallels an emerging pattern of a subtropical peak in marine biodiversity. The higher consumption at midlatitudes was closely related to the type of consumers present, which explained rates of consumption better than consumer density, biomass, species diversity, or habitat. Indeed, the apparent effect of temperature on consumption was mostly driven by temperature-associated turnover in consumer community composition. Our findings reinforce the key influence of climate warming on altered species composition and highlight its implications for the functioning of Earth's ecosystems.</p>
Fig. 1 in Five Trophically-transmitted Parasites from Adult Arctic Lampreys Lethenteron camtschaticum (Petromyzontiformes: Petromyzontidae): Biological Indicators of the Host's Marine Life as a Predator
Fig. 1. Endoparasites from adult Arctic lampreys Lethenteron camtschaticum (Tilesius, 1811) from the Ishikari River, Hokkaido. A, Brachyphallus crenatus (Rudolphi, 1802); B, Lecithaster gibbosus (Rudolphi, 1802); C, Nybelinia surmenicola (Okada in Dollfus, 1929); D, metabasal armature of a tentacle of N. surmenicola; E, tetraphyllidean plerocercoid; F, male specimen of Bolbosoma sp.; G, female specimen of Bolbosoma sp. Scale bars: A–B, 500 µm; C, E–G, 2 mm; D, 50 µm.
Large marine predator aerial survey data for Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand
<p>Large marine predators, such as cetaceans and sharks, play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity patterns and ecosystem health. Despite the recognised importance of these animals and their over-representation as threatened species, distribution data at appropriate temporal and spatial scales is often lacking or insufficient for effective conservation. </p> <p>Here, we present sightings of large marine megafauna recorded from a replicate systematic aerial survey undertaken in the Hauraki Gulf, Aotearoa New Zealand during a full year. Using flexible machine learning models (Boosted Regression Tree models), we use these sightings data to investigate relationships between large marine predator occurrence (Bryde's whales, common and bottlenose dolphins, bronze whalers, pelagic and immature hammerhead sharks) and spatially explicit environmental and biotic variables to predict species richness of large marine predators and investigate their fine-scale spatiotemporal distribution patterns. All models were considered informative (all, AUC > 0.78), and temporally dynamic variables, such as the distribution of prey, were important in predicting the occurrence of the study species and species groups. </p> <p>Our approach and data highlight the value of multi-species surveys and the importance of considering temporally variable abiotic and biotic drivers for understanding biodiversity patterns when informing ecosystem-scale conservation planning and dynamic ocean management.</p> <p>We provide data files of:</p> <ul> <li>Locations of species presence / pseudo absence location over time (in .csv format) and associated environmental and biotic variables for Bryde's whales, common and bottlenose dolphins, bronze whaler, pelagic and immature hammerhead sharks.</li> <li>Monthly estimates of 14 high-resolution spatially explicit environmental and biotic variables (1 km grid resolution): Bathymetry; Slope; Distance from shore; Distance to 40m depth; Sand; Mud; Gravel; Seabed disturbance; Tidal current; Chlorophyll a; Sea surface temp; Distance to plankton; Distance to prey (saved as .R data)</li> <li>Model objects, R code, and model outputs of the Boosted Regression Tree modelling.</li> <li>Predicted monthly distributions (and associated spatially explicit uncertainty) of Bryde's whales, common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, bronze whaler sharks, pelagic sharks, immature hammerhead sharks, and richness of large marine predators in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, (January to December). Monthly richness estimates of large marine predators.</li> </ul>
Data from: Climate drives the geography of marine consumption by changing predator communities
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Data from: A marine predator relies on both social cues and frequently updated memory to search for prey
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Path analysis reveals combined winter climate and pollution effects on the survival of a marine top predator
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Large marine predator aerial survey data for Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand
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Mussel bed community data for: Intraspecific variation in a marine predator changes intertidal community through effects on a foundation species
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Data from: Population structure, connectivity and demographic history of an apex marine predator, the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas
Knowledge of population structure, connectivity and effective population size remains limited for many marine apex predators, including the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas. This large-bodied coastal shark is distributed worldwide in warm temperate and tropical waters, and uses estuaries and rivers as nurseries. As an apex predator, the bull shark likely plays a vital ecological role within marine food webs, but is at risk due to inshore habitat degradation and various fishing pressures. We investigated the bull shark's global population structure and demographic history by analysing the genetic diversity of 370 individuals from 11 different locations using 25 microsatellite loci and three mitochondrial genes (CR, nd4, cytb). Both types of markers revealed clustering between sharks from the Western Atlantic and those from the Western Pacific and the Western Indian Ocean, with no contemporary gene flow. Microsatellite data suggested low differentiation between the Western Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific, but substantial differentiation was found using mitochondrial DN A. Integrating information from both types of markers and using Bayesian computation with a random forest procedure (ABC-RF), this discordance was found to be due to a complete lack of contemporary gene flow. High genetic connectivity was found both within the Western Indian Ocean and within the Western Pacific. In conclusion, these results suggest important structuring of bull shark populations globally with important gene flow occurring along coastlines , highlighting the need for management and conservation plans on regional scales rather than oceanic basin scale.
Drivers of spatiotemporal variability in bycatch of a top marine predator: First evidence for the role of water turbidity in protected species bycatch
1. Bycatch of protected species in static net fisheries is a global conservation concern and is currently considered the dominant anthropogenic threat to many marine mammal species worldwide. Effective bycatch mitigation remains challenging, contingent on an understanding of the underlying mechanisms that cause individuals to become entangled. 2. We combined data collected by scientific observers and fishers to identify predictors of seal bycatch in static net fisheries along the west, southwest, and south coasts of Ireland. We first analysed the broad regional and seasonal trends in seal bycatch before identifying environmental variables that could potentially explain these patterns. 3. Based on negative binomial generalised linear mixed effects models, the rate of seal bycatch significantly varied with season and region, and decreased at greater distances to major seal colonies and lower water turbidity. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that distance to major seal colonies was a significant driver of the observed regional differences in seal bycatch rates, and water turbidity a major driver of seasonal trends. These findings will enable us to identify future bycatch risk and target mitigation measures accordingly. This is the first study to identify the effect of water turbidity on bycatch of a protected marine species. Increasing net visibility in turbid waters may provide a novel approach to mitigating against protected species bycatch in static net fisheries.05-Nov-2019
Data from: Personality predicts foraging site fidelity and trip repeatability in a marine predator
1. Animal populations are often comprised of both foraging specialists and generalists. For instance, some individuals show higher foraging site fidelity (spatial specialisation) than others. Such individual differences in degree of specialisation can persist over timescales of months or even years in long-lived animals, but the mechanisms leading to these different individual strategies are not fully understood. 2. There is accumulating evidence that individual variation in foraging behaviour is shaped by animal personality traits, such as boldness. Despite this, the potential for boldness to drive differences in the degree of specialisation is unknown. 3. In this study, we used novel object tests to measure boldness in black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) breeding at four colonies in Svalbard, and deployed GPS loggers to examine their at-sea foraging behaviour. We estimated the repeatability of foraging trips, and used a hidden Markov model to identify locations of foraging sites in order to quantify individual foraging site fidelity. 4. Across the breeding season, bolder birds were more repeatable than shy individuals in the distance and range of their foraging trips, and during the incubation period (but not chick rearing), bolder individuals were more site faithful. Birds exhibited these differences while showing high spatial similarity in foraging areas, indicating that site selection was not driven by personality-dependent spatial partitioning. 5. We instead suggest that a relationship between boldness and site fidelity may be driven by differences in behavioural flexibility between bold and shy individuals. Together, these results provide a potential mechanism by which widely reported individual differences in foraging specialisation may emerge.
Data from: Predator-driven behavioral shifts in a common lizard shape resource-flow from marine to terrestrial ecosystems
<p>We conducted a field experiment to assess foraging niche dynamics of semiarboreal brown anole lizards in the presence/absence of predatory ground-dwelling curly tailed lizards in a replicated set of island ecosystems. Data used in this study includes ecological infomration for the replicated islands of study (i.e. relative arthropod and seaweedabundances) together with phenotypic data of the lizards studied (body mass, size, body condition, as well as behavioral traits describing risk-taking behavior) as well as habitat use data and marine component of diet as a surrogate of the diet of these lizards. One year after experimental translocation, brown anoles exposed to these predators increased perch height and reduced consumption of marine-derived food resources. We also use this dataset to investigate if this foraging niche shift altered marine-to-terrestrial resource-flow dynamics and persisted in the diets of the first-generation offspring. Finally, we also assessed if lizards that displayed more risk-taking behaviors consumed more marine prey on islands with predators present.</p>
Carotenoid skin ornaments as flexible indicators of male foraging behavior in a marine predator: Variation among Mexican colonies of Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster)
<p>Carotenoid-dependent ornaments can reflect animals' diet and foraging behaviors. However, this association should be spatially flexible and variable among populations to account for geographic variation in optimal foraging behaviors. We tested this hypothesis using populations of a marine predator (the brown booby, <em>Sula leucogaster</em>) that forage across a gradient in ocean depth in and near the Gulf of California. Specifically, we quantified green chroma for two skin traits (foot and gular color) and their relationship to foraging location and diet of males, as measured via GPS tracking and stable carbon isotope analysis of blood plasma. Our three focal colonies varied in which foraging attributes were linked to carotenoid-rich ornaments. For gular skin, our data showed a shift from a benthic prey-green skin association in the shallow waters in the north to a pelagic prey-green skin association in the deepest waters to the south. Mean foraging trip duration and distance of the foraging site from the coast also predicted skin coloration in some colonies. Finally, brown booby colonies varied in which trait (foot vs. gular skin color) was associated with foraging metrics. Overall, our results indicate that male ornaments reflect the quality of diet and foraging – information that may help females select mates who are adapted to local foraging conditions and therefore, are likely to provide better parental care. More broadly, our results stress that diet-dependent ornaments are intimately linked to animals' environments and that we cannot assume ornaments or ornament signal content are ubiquitous within species, even when ornaments appear similar among populations. </p>
Disease-driven mass mortality event leads to widespread extirpation and variable recovery potential of a marine predator across the eastern Pacific
<p>The prevalence of disease-driven mass mortality events is increasing, but our understanding of spatial variation in their magnitude, timing, and triggers are often poorly resolved. Here, we use a novel range-wide dataset comprised of 48,810 surveys to quantify how Sea Star Wasting Disease affected <i>Pycnopodia</i> <i>helianthoides</i>, the sunflower sea star, across its range from Baja California, Mexico to the Aleutian Islands, USA. We found that the outbreak occurred more rapidly, killed a greater percentage of the population, and left fewer survivors in the southern half of the species' range. <i>Pycnopodia</i> now appears to be functionally extinct (> 99.2% declines) from Baja California, Mexico to Cape Flattery, Washington, USA and exhibited severe declines (> 87.8%) from the Salish Sea to the Gulf of Alaska. The importance of temperature in predicting <i>Pycnopodia</i> distribution rose 450% after the outbreak, suggesting these latitudinal gradients may stem from an interaction between disease severity and warmer waters. We found no evidence of population recovery in the years since the outbreak. Natural recovery in the southern half of the range is unlikely over the short-term and assisted recovery will likely be required for recovery in the southern half of the range on ecologically-relevant time scales.</p>
Data from: Site fidelity increases reproductive success by increasing foraging efficiency in a marine predator
<p>Seabirds must find food efficiently in the dynamic ocean environment to succeed at raising chicks. In theory, site familiarity, gained by prior experience in a place, should increase foraging efficiency when prey is predictable, and translate into increased reproductive success, though this is difficult to test empirically. To address this, we examined foraging-site fidelity in Magellanic penguins, <em>Spheniscus magellanicus, </em>using movement data from 180 individuals tracked during 23 breeding seasons when penguins make repeated trips from their colony to feed chicks. We tested whether chlorophyll-a concentration, as a proxy for ocean productivity, affects foraging-site fidelity. We then tested whether foraging-site fidelity affects foraging efficiency and reproductive success. Mean foraging-site fidelity was higher in years with higher ocean productivity, when fronts had stronger gradients in temperature and chlorophyll, and prey was likely more predictable. When returning to previously visited foraging sites, penguins arrived and returned faster than predicted for a trip of a given distance, leading to lower mean trip durations and more frequent trips in penguins with high site fidelity. Increased foraging efficiency and chick-feeding frequency in turn led to increased chick survival. Our study reveals that foraging efficiency is a key mechanism linking foraging-site fidelity and reproductive success.</p>
Data for: Forecasting shifts in habitat suitability of three marine predators suggests a rapid decline in inter-specific overlap under future climate change
<p><strong><span>Aim:</span></strong><span> To estimate spatiotemporal changes in habitat suitability and inter-specific overlap among three marine predators: Baltic grey seals (<em>Halichoerus grypus grypus</em>), harbour seals (<em>Phoca vitulina</em>), and harbour porpoises (<em>Phocoena phocoena</em>) under contemporary and future conditions.</span></p> <p><strong><span>Location: </span></strong><span>The southwestern region of the Baltic Sea, including the Danish Straits and the Kattegat, one of the fastest-warming semi-enclosed seas in the world.</span></p> <p><strong><span>Methods: </span></strong><span>Location data (>200 tagged individuals) were analysed within the </span><span>maximum entropy (MaxEnt) </span><span>algorithm to estimate changes in total area size and overlap of species-specific habitat suitability between 1997-2020 and 2091-2100. A total of eleven candidate predictor variables were considered </span><span>representing anthropogenic activity, environmental, and climate sensitive oceanographic conditions in the area. Sea surface temperature and salinity</span><span> data were taken from </span><span>representative concentration pathways [RCPs] scenarios 6.0 and 8.5</span><span> to forecast potential </span><span>climate change effects</span><span>.</span></p> <p><strong><span>Results:</span></strong><span> Model output suggests that habitat suitability of Baltic grey seals will decline drastically over space and time, largely driven by changes in sea surface salinity and a loss of currently available haulout sites following sea level rise in the future. A similar though weaker response was observed for harbour seals, while suitability of habitat for harbour porpoises was predicted to remain fairly stable over space and time. Inter-specific overlap in highly suitable habitat was predicted to increase slightly under RCP scenario 6.0 when compared to contemporary conditions but to largely disappear under RCP scenario 8.5.</span></p> <p><strong><span>Main conclusions:</span></strong><strong> </strong><span>Marine predators in the southwestern Baltic Sea and adjacent waters may respond differently to future climatic conditions, leading to divergent shifts in habitat suitability that are likely to decrease inter-specific overlap.<strong> </strong>We, therefore, conclude that climate change can lead to a marked redistribution of area use by marine predators in the region, which may influence local food-web dynamics and ecosystem functioning.</span></p>
Data from: Empirically testing the influence of light regime on diel activity patterns in a marine predator reveals complex interacting factors shaping behaviour
<p>Diel cycles in marine predator diving behaviour centre around the light-mediated diel vertical migration (DVM) of prey, and are considered critical for optimizing foraging and limiting competition across global seascapes. Yet our understanding of predator diel behaviour is based primarily on examining relative depth usage between constant day/night cycles with no formal investigation of how varying light regimes interact with abiotic factors to shape diel activity. The extreme seasonal light regimes (midnight sun, polar night, day/night cycle) in the Arctic provide a unique natural experimental setting to empirically investigate the occurrence and intensity of diel behaviour in marine predators relative to changing light levels while concomitantly assessing interacting abiotic factors. Depth time series data from satellite-linked tags deployed on six belugas for up to 12 months were used to quantify diel behaviour by calculating dissimilarity in time-at-depth between periods of low and high solar altitude on each day. Generalized additive mixed effects models were used to examine the influence of hours of daylight across extreme light cycles, coupled with bathymetry and sea ice concentration; focal diel patterns were further examined relative to the thermal structure of the water column. As predicted, belugas exhibited cathemerality during the midnight sun, and initiated diel behaviour with the onset of the fall day/night cycle, with a marked increase in its intensity with the progression to equal day/night length. Occurrence of diel patterns, however, was complex; ceasing in regions with seafloor depths < 700 m, and occurring with greatest intensity when the water column was thermally homogeneous within the upper 150 m. Through empirical investigation, this study demonstrates that the onset of day/night light cycles and presumably associated prey DVM can modulate predator diel dive behaviour under certain circumstances, but highlights how the complex interaction of abiotic factors with light regime shape dynamic spatiotemporal patterns. These findings, building on a body of recent work, emphasize that the traditional view of the ubiquitous occurrence of diel behaviour tied to DVM at the base of the food web oversimplifies vertical predator-prey interactions, identifying the need for more structured investigation. </p>
Data from: Integrating isotopic and nutritional niches reveals multiple dimensions of individual diet specialisation in a marine apex predator
<ol> <li>Dietary specializations are important determinants of ecological structure, particularly in species with high per-capita trophic influence like marine apex predators. These species are, however, among the most challenging in which to establish spatiotemporally integrated diets.</li> <li>We introduce a novel integration of stable isotopes with a multidimensional nutritional niche framework that addresses the challenges of establishing spatiotemporally integrated nutritional niches in wild populations, and apply the framework to explore individual diet specialization in a marine apex predator, the white shark (<em>Carcharodon carcharias</em>).</li> <li>Sequential tooth files were sampled from juvenile white sharks to establish individual isotopic (δ-space; δ<sup>13</sup>C, δ<sup>15</sup>N, δ<sup>34</sup>S) niche specialization. Bayesian mixing models were then used to reveal individual-level prey (p-space) specialization, and further combined with nutritional geometry models to quantify the nutritional (N-space) dimensions of individual specialization and their relationships to prey use.</li> <li>Isotopic and mixing model analyses indicated juvenile white sharks as individual specialists within a broader, generalist, population niche. Individual sharks differed in their consumption of several important mesopredator species, which suggested among-individual variance in trophic roles in either pelagic or benthic food webs. However, variation in nutrient intakes was small and not consistently correlated with differences in prey use, suggesting white sharks as nutritional specialists and that individuals could use functionally and nutritionally different prey as complementary means to achieve a common nutritional goal.</li> <li>We identify how degrees of individual specialisation can differ between niche spaces (δ-, p- or N-space), the physiological and ecological implications of this, and argue that integrating nutrition can provide stronger, mechanistic links between diet specialisation and its intrinsic (fitness/performance) and extrinsic (ecological) outcomes. Our time-integrated framework is adaptable for examining the nutritional consequences and drivers of food use variation at the individual, population or species level.</li> </ol>
Intraguild processes drive space-use patterns in a large-bodied marine predator community
<p>Interspecific interactions, including predator-prey, intraguild predation (IGP), and competition, may drive distribution and habitat use of predator communities. However, elucidating the relative importance of these interactions in shaping predator distributions is challenging, especially in marine communities comprising highly mobile species.</p> <p>We used individual-based models (IBMs) to predict the habitat distributions of apex predators, intraguild (IG) prey, and prey. We then used passive acoustic telemetry to test these predictions in a subtropical marine predator community consisting of eight elasmobranch (i.e., shark and ray) species in Bimini, The Bahamas.</p> <p>IBMs predicted that prey and IG prey will preferentially select habitats based on safety over resources (food), with stronger selection for safe habitat by smaller prey. Elasmobranch space-use patterns matched these predictions. Species with predator-prey and asymmetrical IGP (between apex and small mesopredators) interactions showed the clearest spatial separation, followed by asymmetrical IGP among apex and large mesopredators. Competitors showed greater spatial overlap although with finer-scale differences in microhabitat use.</p> <p>Our study suggests space-use patterns in elasmobranchs are at least partially driven by interspecific interactions, with stronger spatial separation occurring where interactions include predator-prey relationships or IGP.</p>
Ocean acidification and predation risk, in isolation and in combination, show strong effects on marine mussels
<p><span>Carbon dioxide-induced ocean acidification are producing a range of new selection pressures on marine calcifying organisms that show phenotypic plasticity in their shell morphology in response to predators. Although there are numerous studies on the effects of ocean acidification and predation risk on marine bivalves in isolation, the understanding concerning their combined effects is still lacking. To bridge this gap, we conducted a long-term mesocosm experiment using mussel populations with different history of predator exposure: crab-experienced and crab-naïve. Mussels were exposed to either lower pH or crab cue and the combination of both these treatments for four months. We demonstrate that both crab-experienced and crab-naïve mussels have heavier, thicker, rounder and, thus, stronger shells in response to crab cues, whereas low pH significantly decreased shell mass, thickness and strength. Mussels with previous experience to crabs showed greater plasticity in response to crab cues than crab-naïve mussels. However, this differential response was eliminated by ocean acidification. Exposure to low pH and crab cue resulted in antagonistic interactions for all traits, except for shell length where the combined effect was additive. However, there was no difference among populations in the interaction type for any of the traits. Our study may provide implications for the management of mussel populations under climate change.</span></p>
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.