Residency, Site Fidelity, and Regional Movement of Tiger Sharks ( Galeocerdo cuvier ) at a Pupping Location in the Bahamas
Understanding space use and movement behavior can benefit conservation and management of species by identifying areas of high importance. However, this can be challenging for highly mobile species, especially those which use a wide range of habitats across ontogeny. The Bahamas is hypothesized to be...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9e853f51640246ebb49b2ffb4c51bd37 2023-05-15T17:35:23+02:00 Residency, Site Fidelity, and Regional Movement of Tiger Sharks ( Galeocerdo cuvier ) at a Pupping Location in the Bahamas Matthew J. Smukall Andrew C. Seitz Félicie Dhellemmes Maurits P. M. van Zinnicq Bergmann Vital Heim Samuel H. Gruber Tristan L. Guttridge 2022-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610017 https://doaj.org/article/9e853f51640246ebb49b2ffb4c51bd37 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/16/10017 https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050 doi:10.3390/su141610017 2071-1050 https://doaj.org/article/9e853f51640246ebb49b2ffb4c51bd37 Sustainability, Vol 14, Iss 10017, p 10017 (2022) shark essential habitat reproduction regional movement telemetry Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610017 2022-12-30T20:43:11Z Understanding space use and movement behavior can benefit conservation and management of species by identifying areas of high importance. However, this can be challenging for highly mobile species, especially those which use a wide range of habitats across ontogeny. The Bahamas is hypothesized to be an important area for tiger sharks, but the utility of the area for this species within the broader western North Atlantic is not fully understood. Therefore, we assessed (1) whether the area near Bimini serves as an important pupping location for tiger sharks, (2) their level of residency and site fidelity to the area, and (3) regional dispersal across ontogeny. Frequent captures of young-of-year tiger sharks, as well as ultrasonography showing near-term and recently postpartum females supports the hypothesis that pupping occurs in the area. However, small juveniles had low overall recapture rates and sparse acoustic detections near Bimini, indicating they do not reside in the area for long or may suffer high natural mortality. Large juvenile and sexually mature tiger sharks had higher overall local residency, which increased during cooler water winter months. The probability of dispersal from Bimini increased for larger individuals. Repeated, long-term site fidelity was displayed by some mature females, with several returning to Bimini across multiple years. Satellite tracking showed that tiger sharks extensively used areas outside of The Bahamas, including traveling more than 12,000 km. Together, these results show that Bimini is an important area for tiger sharks, serving as a pupping ground, rather than a nursery ground, a finding which could be incorporated into future conservation and management efforts. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Sustainability 14 16 10017 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
shark essential habitat reproduction regional movement telemetry Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
shark essential habitat reproduction regional movement telemetry Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Matthew J. Smukall Andrew C. Seitz Félicie Dhellemmes Maurits P. M. van Zinnicq Bergmann Vital Heim Samuel H. Gruber Tristan L. Guttridge Residency, Site Fidelity, and Regional Movement of Tiger Sharks ( Galeocerdo cuvier ) at a Pupping Location in the Bahamas |
topic_facet |
shark essential habitat reproduction regional movement telemetry Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
Understanding space use and movement behavior can benefit conservation and management of species by identifying areas of high importance. However, this can be challenging for highly mobile species, especially those which use a wide range of habitats across ontogeny. The Bahamas is hypothesized to be an important area for tiger sharks, but the utility of the area for this species within the broader western North Atlantic is not fully understood. Therefore, we assessed (1) whether the area near Bimini serves as an important pupping location for tiger sharks, (2) their level of residency and site fidelity to the area, and (3) regional dispersal across ontogeny. Frequent captures of young-of-year tiger sharks, as well as ultrasonography showing near-term and recently postpartum females supports the hypothesis that pupping occurs in the area. However, small juveniles had low overall recapture rates and sparse acoustic detections near Bimini, indicating they do not reside in the area for long or may suffer high natural mortality. Large juvenile and sexually mature tiger sharks had higher overall local residency, which increased during cooler water winter months. The probability of dispersal from Bimini increased for larger individuals. Repeated, long-term site fidelity was displayed by some mature females, with several returning to Bimini across multiple years. Satellite tracking showed that tiger sharks extensively used areas outside of The Bahamas, including traveling more than 12,000 km. Together, these results show that Bimini is an important area for tiger sharks, serving as a pupping ground, rather than a nursery ground, a finding which could be incorporated into future conservation and management efforts. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Matthew J. Smukall Andrew C. Seitz Félicie Dhellemmes Maurits P. M. van Zinnicq Bergmann Vital Heim Samuel H. Gruber Tristan L. Guttridge |
author_facet |
Matthew J. Smukall Andrew C. Seitz Félicie Dhellemmes Maurits P. M. van Zinnicq Bergmann Vital Heim Samuel H. Gruber Tristan L. Guttridge |
author_sort |
Matthew J. Smukall |
title |
Residency, Site Fidelity, and Regional Movement of Tiger Sharks ( Galeocerdo cuvier ) at a Pupping Location in the Bahamas |
title_short |
Residency, Site Fidelity, and Regional Movement of Tiger Sharks ( Galeocerdo cuvier ) at a Pupping Location in the Bahamas |
title_full |
Residency, Site Fidelity, and Regional Movement of Tiger Sharks ( Galeocerdo cuvier ) at a Pupping Location in the Bahamas |
title_fullStr |
Residency, Site Fidelity, and Regional Movement of Tiger Sharks ( Galeocerdo cuvier ) at a Pupping Location in the Bahamas |
title_full_unstemmed |
Residency, Site Fidelity, and Regional Movement of Tiger Sharks ( Galeocerdo cuvier ) at a Pupping Location in the Bahamas |
title_sort |
residency, site fidelity, and regional movement of tiger sharks ( galeocerdo cuvier ) at a pupping location in the bahamas |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610017 https://doaj.org/article/9e853f51640246ebb49b2ffb4c51bd37 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Sustainability, Vol 14, Iss 10017, p 10017 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/16/10017 https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050 doi:10.3390/su141610017 2071-1050 https://doaj.org/article/9e853f51640246ebb49b2ffb4c51bd37 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610017 |
container_title |
Sustainability |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
16 |
container_start_page |
10017 |
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1766134536271298560 |