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Braun CD, Della Penna A, Arostegui MC, Afonso P, Berumen ML, Block BA, Brown CA, Fontes J, Furtado M, Gallagher AJ, Gaube P, Golet WJ, Kneebone J, Macena BCL, Mucientes G, Orbesen ES, Queiroz N, Shea BD, Schratwieser J, Sims DW, Skomal GB, Snodgrass D, Thorrold SR. Linking vertical movements of large pelagic predators with distribution patterns of biomass in the open ocean. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2306357120. [PMID: 38150462 PMCID: PMC10666118 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2306357120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2023] [Accepted: 09/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Many predator species make regular excursions from near-surface waters to the twilight (200 to 1,000 m) and midnight (1,000 to 3,000 m) zones of the deep pelagic ocean. While the occurrence of significant vertical movements into the deep ocean has evolved independently across taxonomic groups, the functional role(s) and ecological significance of these movements remain poorly understood. Here, we integrate results from satellite tagging efforts with model predictions of deep prey layers in the North Atlantic Ocean to determine whether prey distributions are correlated with vertical habitat use across 12 species of predators. Using 3D movement data for 344 individuals who traversed nearly 1.5 million km of pelagic ocean in [Formula: see text]42,000 d, we found that nearly every tagged predator frequented the twilight zone and many made regular trips to the midnight zone. Using a predictive model, we found clear alignment of predator depth use with the expected location of deep pelagic prey for at least half of the predator species. We compared high-resolution predator data with shipboard acoustics and selected representative matches that highlight the opportunities and challenges in the analysis and synthesis of these data. While not all observed behavior was consistent with estimated prey availability at depth, our results suggest that deep pelagic biomass likely has high ecological value for a suite of commercially important predators in the open ocean. Careful consideration of the disruption to ecosystem services provided by pelagic food webs is needed before the potential costs and benefits of proceeding with extractive activities in the deep ocean can be evaluated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camrin D. Braun
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA02543
| | - Alice Della Penna
- Institute of Marine Science, University of Auckland, Auckland1010, New Zealand
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland1010, New Zealand
| | - Martin C. Arostegui
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA02543
| | - Pedro Afonso
- Institute of Marine Sciences - OKEANOS, University of the Azores, Horta9901-862, Portugal
| | - Michael L. Berumen
- Red Sea Research Center, Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal23955, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Barbara A. Block
- Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA93950
| | - Craig A. Brown
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Miami, FL33149
| | - Jorge Fontes
- Institute of Marine Sciences - OKEANOS, University of the Azores, Horta9901-862, Portugal
| | - Miguel Furtado
- Institute of Marine Sciences - OKEANOS, University of the Azores, Horta9901-862, Portugal
| | | | - Peter Gaube
- Applied Physics Laboratory–University of Washington, Seattle, WA98105
| | - Walter J. Golet
- The School of Marine Sciences, The University of Maine, Orono, ME04469
- The Gulf of Maine Research Institute, Portland, ME04101
| | - Jeff Kneebone
- Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium, Boston, MA02110
| | - Bruno C. L. Macena
- Institute of Marine Sciences - OKEANOS, University of the Azores, Horta9901-862, Portugal
| | - Gonzalo Mucientes
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão4485-661, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão4485-661, Portugal
| | - Eric S. Orbesen
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Miami, FL33149
| | - Nuno Queiroz
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão4485-661, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão4485-661, Portugal
| | | | | | - David W. Sims
- Marine Biological Association, PlymouthPL1 2PB, United Kingdom
- Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, SouthamptonSO14 3ZH, United Kingdom
| | | | - Derke Snodgrass
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Miami, FL33149
| | - Simon R. Thorrold
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA02543
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