Encounter success of free-ranging marine predator movements across a dynamic prey landscape

Sims, DW, Witt, MJ, Richardson, AJ, Southall, EJ and Metcalfe, JD 2006 Encounter success of free-ranging marine predator movements across a dynamic prey landscape. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B-Biological Sciences, 273 (1591). 1195-1201. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3444

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Abstract/Summary

Movements of wide-ranging top predators can now be studied effectively using satellite and archival telemetry. However, the motivations underlying movements remain difficult to determine because trajectories are seldom related to key biological gradients, such as changing prey distributions. Here, we use a dynamic prey landscape of zooplankton biomass in the north-east Atlantic Ocean to examine active habitat selection in the plankton-feeding basking shark Cetorhinus maximus. The relative success of shark searches across this landscape was examined by comparing prey biomass encountered by sharks with encounters by random-walk simulations of ‘model’ sharks. Movements of transmitter-tagged sharks monitored for 964 days (16754km estimated minimum distance) were concentrated on the European continental shelf in areas characterized by high seasonal productivity and complex prey distributions. We show movements by adult and sub-adult sharks yielded consistently higher prey encounter rates than 90% of random-walk simulations. Behavioural patterns were consistent with basking sharks using search tactics structured across multiple scales to exploit the richest prey areas available in preferred habitats. Simple behavioural rules based on learned responses to previously encountered prey distributions may explain the high performances. This study highlights how dynamic prey landscapes enable active habitat selection in large predators to be investigated from a trophic perspective, an approach that may inform conservation by identifying critical habitat of vulnerable species.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Additional Keywords:	Telemetry Foraging behaviour Habitat selection Food availability
Subjects:
Divisions:	Marine Biological Association of the UK > Other (MBA) Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science > Other (SAHFOS) (expired)
Depositing User:	EPrints Services
Date made live:	29 Jun 2006
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2020 09:55
URI:	https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/1327

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