A global perspective on the trophic geography of sharks

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....

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Bird, C.S., Veríssimo, Ana, Magozzi, Sarah, Abrantes, K.G., Aguilar, Alex, Al-Reasi, Hassan, Barnett, Adam, Bethea, D.M., Biais, Gérard, Borrell, Asunción, Bouchoucha, Marc, Boyle, Mariah, Brooks, E.J., Brunnschweiler, Juerg, Bustamante, Paco, Carlisle, Aaron, Catarino, Diana, Caut, Stéphane, Cherel, Yves, Chouvelon, Tiphaine, Churchill, Diana, Ciancio, Javier, Claes, Julien, Colaço, Ana, Courtney, D.L., Cresson, Pierre, Daly, Ryan, De-Necker, Leigh, Endo, Tetsuya, Figueiredo, Ivone, Frisch, A.J., Hansen, Joan Holst, Heithaus, Michael, Hussey, N.E., Iitembu, Johannes, Juanes, Francis, Kinney, M.J., Kiszka, J.J., Klarian, S.A., Kopp, Dorothée, Leaf, Robert, Li, Yunkai, Lorrain, Anne, Madigan, D.J., Maljković, Aleksandra, Malpica-Cruz, Luis, Matich, Philip, Meekan, M.G., Ménard, Frédéric, Menezes, G.M., Munroe, A.E.M., Newman, M.C., Papastamatiou, Y.P., Pethybridge, Heidi, Plumlee,, Polo-Silva, Carlos, Quaeck-Davies, Katie, Raoult, Vincent, Reum, Jonathan, Torres-Rojas, Yassir Eden, Shiffman, D.S., Shipley, O.N., Speed, C.W., Staudinger, Michelle D, Teffer, A.K., Tilley, Alexander, Valls, Maria, Vaudo,, Tak-Cheung, Wai, Wells, R.J.D., Wyatt, Alex S. J., Yool, Andrew, Trueman, C.N.
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2018
Country:España
Institution:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repository:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/324097
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/324097
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Pesquerías
sharks
Centro Oceanográfico de Baleares
trophic geography
predators
Food web
stable isotopes
Description
Summary: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

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