Energyscapes pinpoint marine megafauna feeding hotspots in the Mediterranean

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lambert, Charlotte; Broderick, Annette C.; Beton, Damla; Canadas, Ana; Dars, Cecile; Di Matteo, Andrew; Gilbert, Lola; Gimenez, Joan; Keramidas, Ioannis; Navarro, Joan; Palmer, Josie L.; Snape, Robin T. E.; Sparks, Laura; Spitz, Jerome; Tsikliras, Athanassios C.; Virgili, Auriane; Gremillet, David
• 署名单位: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); CNRS - Institute of Ecology & Environment (INEE); Universite PSL; Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE); Institut Agro; Montpellier SupAgro; CIRAD; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD); Universite Paul-Valery; Universite de Montpellier; University of Exeter; Duke University; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC); Spanish Institute of Oceanography; Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC); CSIC - Centro Mediterraneo de Investigaciones Marinas y Ambientales (CMIMA); CSIC - Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM); United States Department of Defense; United States Navy; US Navy Naval Sea Systems Command; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); CNRS - Institute of Ecology & Environment (INEE); University of Cape Town
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-12962
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2412845122
• 发表日期: 2025-02-03
• 关键词: tuna thunnus-thynnus; shearwater calonectris diomedea; diel movement patterns; bottle-nosed dolphins; shark lamna-nasus; sunfish mola-mola; ocean sunfish; bluefin tuna; diving behavior; isurus-oxyrinchus

摘要

Ocean giants shape the structure and functioning of marine food webs via trophic top-down controls, landscapes of fear, vertical and horizontal redistribution of nutrients, energy, and matter. Yet, they face threats from overfishing, pollution, habitat degradation, and climate change, and one-third of marine megafauna species are at risk of extinction, ultimately endangering the resilience of entire ecosystems. In such a context, knowing when and where megafauna find resources to balance their substantial energy requirements is critical for their management. Through an energyscape approach integrating abundance censuses, diet, and energy requirements, we investigated the prey consumption patterns of Mediterranean marine megafauna during the summer. We thereby shed light on a diverse guild of species composed of fishes, mammals, reptiles, and birds and estimated that 4.1 million individuals consume 1.6 million tons of prey each summer, pelagic cephalopods being the primary food resource and cetaceans and tunas being key players in the community. Spatial patterns in prey consumption reflected the diverse distribution and needs of the megafauna species and underlined the critical importance of the western Mediterranean for the megafauna community. Conservation strategies should prioritize spatial and biological diversity to safeguard megafauna and ecosystem functions across the Mediterranean basin.