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Rapid Ocean Warming Drives Sexually Divergent Habitat Use in a Threatened Predatory Marine Ectotherm

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Rapid Ocean Warming Drives Sexually Divergent Habitat Use in a Threatened Predatory Marine Ectotherm. / Mead, Lucy R.; Piper, Adam; Alvarado, David Jiménez et al.
In: Global Change Biology, Vol. 31, No. 7, e70331, 31.07.2025.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Mead, LR, Piper, A, Alvarado, DJ, Meyers, E, Barker, J, Toledo‐Padilla, H, Herraiz, E, Campoamor, AF, Sealey, M, Caro, MB, Bañeras, T, Pike, C, Gollock, M, Ravina‐Olivares, F & Jacoby, DMP 2025, 'Rapid Ocean Warming Drives Sexually Divergent Habitat Use in a Threatened Predatory Marine Ectotherm', Global Change Biology, vol. 31, no. 7, e70331. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70331

APA

Mead, L. R., Piper, A., Alvarado, D. J., Meyers, E., Barker, J., Toledo‐Padilla, H., Herraiz, E., Campoamor, A. F., Sealey, M., Caro, M. B., Bañeras, T., Pike, C., Gollock, M., Ravina‐Olivares, F., & Jacoby, D. M. P. (2025). Rapid Ocean Warming Drives Sexually Divergent Habitat Use in a Threatened Predatory Marine Ectotherm. Global Change Biology, 31(7), Article e70331. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70331

Vancouver

Mead LR, Piper A, Alvarado DJ, Meyers E, Barker J, Toledo‐Padilla H et al. Rapid Ocean Warming Drives Sexually Divergent Habitat Use in a Threatened Predatory Marine Ectotherm. Global Change Biology. 2025 Jul 31;31(7):e70331. Epub 2025 Jul 16. doi: 10.1111/gcb.70331

Author

Mead, Lucy R. ; Piper, Adam ; Alvarado, David Jiménez et al. / Rapid Ocean Warming Drives Sexually Divergent Habitat Use in a Threatened Predatory Marine Ectotherm. In: Global Change Biology. 2025 ; Vol. 31, No. 7.

Bibtex

@article{d512242a269a409096a46be6f4e4f990,
title = "Rapid Ocean Warming Drives Sexually Divergent Habitat Use in a Threatened Predatory Marine Ectotherm",
abstract = "Climate change poses one of the greatest threats to marine ecosystems worldwide, altering physical, chemical, and biological processes at unprecedented rates. Severe impacts on marine species and habitats have been extensively documented, with shifts in phenology, spatial distribution, and migratory behaviour increasingly pervasive. However, there is a lack of species‐specific data examining responses and adaptation to rapid warming and environmental extremes, especially for marine ectotherms. In this study, we investigate the broad‐scale environmental drivers of distribution in a Critically Endangered ectothermic marine predator, the angelshark Squatina squatina , and report on a behavioural anomaly observed in 2022. Between 2018 and 2023, 112 adult S. squatina were tracked using acoustic telemetry in La Graciosa Marine Reserve in the Canary Islands. Relationships between seasonal presence of S. squatina and remotely sensed environmental parameters were examined with Boosted Regression Tree and Generalised Additive Modelling. Major sex differences were found, with female sharks strongly influenced by environmental conditions and particularly sensitive to temperature, with a possible upper thermal threshold close to 22.5°C. Peak sea surface temperature in the study area increased from 22.99°C to 23.81°C, and the number of days above 22.5°C nearly tripled. Absence of females during the 2022 breeding season coincided with widespread thermal anomalies across the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, with unusually high temperatures persisting later into the year. We conclude that this potentially disrupted seasonal thermal cues for S. squatina movement, leading to sexually divergent habitat use. Given the warming projected for this region, thermal thresholds may increasingly be exceeded, and key areas may become inhospitable for female S. squatina , which is of huge concern for this already highly threatened species. These findings highlight the urgency of identifying species‐specific environmental tolerances and incorporating these into conservation so that management remains ecologically relevant in a rapidly warming ocean.",
keywords = "behaviour, conservation, species distribution, marine predator, elasmobranch, intraspecific variation, thermal tolerance, angelshark, climate change",
author = "Mead, {Lucy R.} and Adam Piper and Alvarado, {David Jim{\'e}nez} and Eva Meyers and Joanna Barker and Hector Toledo‐Padilla and Edy Herraiz and Campoamor, {Alberto F.} and Michael Sealey and Caro, {Maria Bel{\'e}n} and Tom{\`a}s Ba{\~n}eras and Charlotte Pike and Matthew Gollock and Felipe Ravina‐Olivares and Jacoby, {David M. P.}",
year = "2025",
month = jul,
day = "31",
doi = "10.1111/gcb.70331",
language = "English",
volume = "31",
journal = "Global Change Biology",
issn = "1354-1013",
publisher = "Blackwell Publishing Ltd",
number = "7",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Rapid Ocean Warming Drives Sexually Divergent Habitat Use in a Threatened Predatory Marine Ectotherm

AU - Mead, Lucy R.

AU - Piper, Adam

AU - Alvarado, David Jiménez

AU - Meyers, Eva

AU - Barker, Joanna

AU - Toledo‐Padilla, Hector

AU - Herraiz, Edy

AU - Campoamor, Alberto F.

AU - Sealey, Michael

AU - Caro, Maria Belén

AU - Bañeras, Tomàs

AU - Pike, Charlotte

AU - Gollock, Matthew

AU - Ravina‐Olivares, Felipe

AU - Jacoby, David M. P.

PY - 2025/7/31

Y1 - 2025/7/31

N2 - Climate change poses one of the greatest threats to marine ecosystems worldwide, altering physical, chemical, and biological processes at unprecedented rates. Severe impacts on marine species and habitats have been extensively documented, with shifts in phenology, spatial distribution, and migratory behaviour increasingly pervasive. However, there is a lack of species‐specific data examining responses and adaptation to rapid warming and environmental extremes, especially for marine ectotherms. In this study, we investigate the broad‐scale environmental drivers of distribution in a Critically Endangered ectothermic marine predator, the angelshark Squatina squatina , and report on a behavioural anomaly observed in 2022. Between 2018 and 2023, 112 adult S. squatina were tracked using acoustic telemetry in La Graciosa Marine Reserve in the Canary Islands. Relationships between seasonal presence of S. squatina and remotely sensed environmental parameters were examined with Boosted Regression Tree and Generalised Additive Modelling. Major sex differences were found, with female sharks strongly influenced by environmental conditions and particularly sensitive to temperature, with a possible upper thermal threshold close to 22.5°C. Peak sea surface temperature in the study area increased from 22.99°C to 23.81°C, and the number of days above 22.5°C nearly tripled. Absence of females during the 2022 breeding season coincided with widespread thermal anomalies across the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, with unusually high temperatures persisting later into the year. We conclude that this potentially disrupted seasonal thermal cues for S. squatina movement, leading to sexually divergent habitat use. Given the warming projected for this region, thermal thresholds may increasingly be exceeded, and key areas may become inhospitable for female S. squatina , which is of huge concern for this already highly threatened species. These findings highlight the urgency of identifying species‐specific environmental tolerances and incorporating these into conservation so that management remains ecologically relevant in a rapidly warming ocean.

AB - Climate change poses one of the greatest threats to marine ecosystems worldwide, altering physical, chemical, and biological processes at unprecedented rates. Severe impacts on marine species and habitats have been extensively documented, with shifts in phenology, spatial distribution, and migratory behaviour increasingly pervasive. However, there is a lack of species‐specific data examining responses and adaptation to rapid warming and environmental extremes, especially for marine ectotherms. In this study, we investigate the broad‐scale environmental drivers of distribution in a Critically Endangered ectothermic marine predator, the angelshark Squatina squatina , and report on a behavioural anomaly observed in 2022. Between 2018 and 2023, 112 adult S. squatina were tracked using acoustic telemetry in La Graciosa Marine Reserve in the Canary Islands. Relationships between seasonal presence of S. squatina and remotely sensed environmental parameters were examined with Boosted Regression Tree and Generalised Additive Modelling. Major sex differences were found, with female sharks strongly influenced by environmental conditions and particularly sensitive to temperature, with a possible upper thermal threshold close to 22.5°C. Peak sea surface temperature in the study area increased from 22.99°C to 23.81°C, and the number of days above 22.5°C nearly tripled. Absence of females during the 2022 breeding season coincided with widespread thermal anomalies across the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, with unusually high temperatures persisting later into the year. We conclude that this potentially disrupted seasonal thermal cues for S. squatina movement, leading to sexually divergent habitat use. Given the warming projected for this region, thermal thresholds may increasingly be exceeded, and key areas may become inhospitable for female S. squatina , which is of huge concern for this already highly threatened species. These findings highlight the urgency of identifying species‐specific environmental tolerances and incorporating these into conservation so that management remains ecologically relevant in a rapidly warming ocean.

KW - behaviour

KW - conservation

KW - species distribution

KW - marine predator

KW - elasmobranch

KW - intraspecific variation

KW - thermal tolerance

KW - angelshark

KW - climate change

U2 - 10.1111/gcb.70331

DO - 10.1111/gcb.70331

M3 - Journal article

VL - 31

JO - Global Change Biology

JF - Global Change Biology

SN - 1354-1013

IS - 7

M1 - e70331

ER -