The distribution of manta rays in the western North Atlantic Ocean off the eastern United States
Abstract In 2018, the giant manta ray was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. We integrated decades of sightings and survey effort data from multiple sources in a comprehensive species distribution modeling (SDM) framework to evaluate the distribution of giant manta rays off...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10482-8 https://doaj.org/article/6a89d34bdb124e788843600a038308e0 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6a89d34bdb124e788843600a038308e0 2023-05-15T17:33:24+02:00 The distribution of manta rays in the western North Atlantic Ocean off the eastern United States Nicholas A. Farmer Lance P. Garrison Calusa Horn Margaret Miller Timothy Gowan Robert D. Kenney Michelle Vukovich Julia Robinson Willmott Jessica Pate D. Harry Webb Timothy J. Mullican Joshua D. Stewart Kim Bassos-Hull Christian Jones Delaney Adams Nicole A. Pelletier Jordan Waldron Stephen Kajiura 2022-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10482-8 https://doaj.org/article/6a89d34bdb124e788843600a038308e0 EN eng Nature Portfolio https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10482-8 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-022-10482-8 2045-2322 https://doaj.org/article/6a89d34bdb124e788843600a038308e0 Scientific Reports, Vol 12, Iss 1, Pp 1-20 (2022) Medicine R Science Q article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10482-8 2022-12-31T03:31:13Z Abstract In 2018, the giant manta ray was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. We integrated decades of sightings and survey effort data from multiple sources in a comprehensive species distribution modeling (SDM) framework to evaluate the distribution of giant manta rays off the eastern United States, including the Gulf of Mexico. Manta rays were most commonly detected at productive nearshore and shelf-edge upwelling zones at surface thermal frontal boundaries within a temperature range of approximately 20–30 °C. SDMs predicted highest nearshore occurrence off northeastern Florida during April, with the distribution extending northward along the shelf-edge as temperatures warm, leading to higher occurrences north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina from June to October, and then south of Savannah, Georgia from November to March as temperatures cool. In the Gulf of Mexico, the highest nearshore occurrence was predicted around the Mississippi River delta from April to June and again from October to November. SDM predictions will allow resource managers to more effectively protect manta rays from fisheries bycatch, boat strikes, oil and gas activities, contaminants and pollutants, and other threats. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Scientific Reports 12 1 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
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English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Nicholas A. Farmer Lance P. Garrison Calusa Horn Margaret Miller Timothy Gowan Robert D. Kenney Michelle Vukovich Julia Robinson Willmott Jessica Pate D. Harry Webb Timothy J. Mullican Joshua D. Stewart Kim Bassos-Hull Christian Jones Delaney Adams Nicole A. Pelletier Jordan Waldron Stephen Kajiura The distribution of manta rays in the western North Atlantic Ocean off the eastern United States |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Abstract In 2018, the giant manta ray was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. We integrated decades of sightings and survey effort data from multiple sources in a comprehensive species distribution modeling (SDM) framework to evaluate the distribution of giant manta rays off the eastern United States, including the Gulf of Mexico. Manta rays were most commonly detected at productive nearshore and shelf-edge upwelling zones at surface thermal frontal boundaries within a temperature range of approximately 20–30 °C. SDMs predicted highest nearshore occurrence off northeastern Florida during April, with the distribution extending northward along the shelf-edge as temperatures warm, leading to higher occurrences north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina from June to October, and then south of Savannah, Georgia from November to March as temperatures cool. In the Gulf of Mexico, the highest nearshore occurrence was predicted around the Mississippi River delta from April to June and again from October to November. SDM predictions will allow resource managers to more effectively protect manta rays from fisheries bycatch, boat strikes, oil and gas activities, contaminants and pollutants, and other threats. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nicholas A. Farmer Lance P. Garrison Calusa Horn Margaret Miller Timothy Gowan Robert D. Kenney Michelle Vukovich Julia Robinson Willmott Jessica Pate D. Harry Webb Timothy J. Mullican Joshua D. Stewart Kim Bassos-Hull Christian Jones Delaney Adams Nicole A. Pelletier Jordan Waldron Stephen Kajiura |
author_facet |
Nicholas A. Farmer Lance P. Garrison Calusa Horn Margaret Miller Timothy Gowan Robert D. Kenney Michelle Vukovich Julia Robinson Willmott Jessica Pate D. Harry Webb Timothy J. Mullican Joshua D. Stewart Kim Bassos-Hull Christian Jones Delaney Adams Nicole A. Pelletier Jordan Waldron Stephen Kajiura |
author_sort |
Nicholas A. Farmer |
title |
The distribution of manta rays in the western North Atlantic Ocean off the eastern United States |
title_short |
The distribution of manta rays in the western North Atlantic Ocean off the eastern United States |
title_full |
The distribution of manta rays in the western North Atlantic Ocean off the eastern United States |
title_fullStr |
The distribution of manta rays in the western North Atlantic Ocean off the eastern United States |
title_full_unstemmed |
The distribution of manta rays in the western North Atlantic Ocean off the eastern United States |
title_sort |
distribution of manta rays in the western north atlantic ocean off the eastern united states |
publisher |
Nature Portfolio |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10482-8 https://doaj.org/article/6a89d34bdb124e788843600a038308e0 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Scientific Reports, Vol 12, Iss 1, Pp 1-20 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10482-8 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-022-10482-8 2045-2322 https://doaj.org/article/6a89d34bdb124e788843600a038308e0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10482-8 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766131896899600384 |