Assessing the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation on a migratory demersal predator in the Alboran Sea
This study analysed the regime shift of tope shark and the overlapping taxa Raja spp. in the Alboran Sea. Tope shark and Raja spp. landings are both significantly correlated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). A significant negative correlation was found between Raja spp. landings and tope sh...
| Published in: | Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2015
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315415001782 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0025315415001782 |
| Summary: | This study analysed the regime shift of tope shark and the overlapping taxa Raja spp. in the Alboran Sea. Tope shark and Raja spp. landings are both significantly correlated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). A significant negative correlation was found between Raja spp. landings and tope shark landings. This finding suggests that climatic oscillations affect regime shifts between these taxa in the Alboran Sea. Studies are scarce on the dependence of deep-sea communities on biological and physical processes occurring in near-shore pelagic environments mediated by large-scale atmospheric phenomena. Similar to previous studies on the Mediterranean Sea, a close association was found between landings of deep-water animals and the NAO. The main conclusion is that the regime shift of tope shark and the overlapping taxa Raja spp. is mediated by a negative NAO and accumulated snow. |
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