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A global perspective on the trophic geography of sharks

2018; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 2; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/s41559-017-0432-z

2397-334X

Christopher S. Bird, Ana Veríssimo, Sarah Magozzi, Kátya G. Abrantes, Àlex Aguilar, Hassan A. Al‐Reasi, Adam Barnett, Dana M. Bethea, Gérard Biais, Asunción Borrell, Marc Bouchoucha, Mariah Boyle, Edward J. Brooks, Juerg M. Brunnschweiler, Paco Bustamante, Aaron B. Carlisle, Diana Catarino, Stéphane Caut, Yves Cherel, Tiphaine Chouvelon, Diana A. Churchill, Javier Ciancio, Julien M. Claes, Ana Colaço, Dean L. Courtney, Pierre Cresson, Ryan Daly, Leigh De Necker, Tetsuya Endo, Ivone Figueiredo, Ashley J. Frisch, Joan H. Hansen, Michael R. Heithaus, Nigel E. Hussey, Johannes A. Iitembu, Francis Juanes, Michael J. Kinney, Jérémy J. Kiszka, Sebastián A. Klarian, Dorothée Kopp, Robert T. Leaf, Yunkai Li, Anne Lorrain, Daniel J. Madigan, Aleksandra Maljković, Luis Malpica‐Cruz, Philip Matich, Mark G. Meekan, Frédéric Ménard, Gui M. Menezes, Samantha Munroe, Michael C. Newman, Yannis P. Papastamatiou, Heidi Pethybridge, Jeffrey D. Plumlee, Carlos Polo-Silva, Katie Quaeck-Davies, Vincent Raoult, Jonathan C. P. Reum, Yassir Edén Torres‐Rojas, David S. Shiffman, Oliver N. Shipley, Conrad W. Speed, Michelle D. Staudinger, Amy K. Teffer, Alexander Tilley, María Valls, Jeremy J. Vaudo, Tak-Cheung Wai, R. J. David Wells, Alex S. J. Wyatt, Andrew Yool, Clive N. Trueman,

Identification and Quantification in Food

Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fixation of carbon atoms that were ultimately assimilated into muscle tissues of 5,394 sharks from 114 species, we identify globally consistent biogeographic traits in trophic interactions between sharks found in different habitats. We show that populations of shelf-dwelling sharks derive a substantial proportion of their carbon from regional pelagic sources, but contain individuals that forage within additional isotopically diverse local food webs, such as those supported by terrestrial plant sources, benthic production and macrophytes. In contrast, oceanic sharks seem to use carbon derived from between 30° and 50° of latitude. Global-scale compilations of stable isotope data combined with biogeochemical modelling generate hypotheses regarding animal behaviours that can be tested with other methodological approaches. Carbon isotopic analysis reveals global biogeographic traits in shark trophic interactions, and sheds light on the diverse foraging behaviour of sharks.