Global tracking of marine megafauna space use reveals how to achieve conservation targets.

The recent Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) sets ambitious goals but no clear pathway for how zero loss of important biodiversity areas and halting human-induced extinction of threatened species will be achieved. We assembled a multi-taxa tracking dataset (11 million geopositions from 15,845 tracked individuals across 121 species) to provide a global assessment of space use of highly mobile marine megafauna, showing that 63% of the area that they cover is used 80% of the time as important migratory corridors or residence areas. The GBF 30% threshold (Target 3) will be insufficient for marine megafauna's effective conservation, leaving important areas exposed to major anthropogenic threats.

A global assessment of microplastic abundance and characteristics on marine turtle nesting beaches.

Sandy coastal beaches are an important nesting habitat for marine turtles and a known sink for plastic pollution. Existing methodologies for monitoring the spatiotemporal patterns of abundance and composition of plastic are, however, disparate. We engaged a global network of marine turtle scientists to implement a large-scale sampling effort to assess microplastic abundance in beach sediments on marine turtle nesting beaches.

Short-Term Effects of Attaching Animal-Borne Devices on the Behavior of Juvenile Green Turtles.

The use of animal-borne devices (= biologgers) has revolutionized the study of marine megafauna, yet there remains a paucity of data concerning the behavioral and physiological impacts of biologger attachment and retention. Here, we used animal-borne cameras to characterize the behavior and dive duration of juvenile green turtles () in The Bahamas for up to 210 min after biologger deployment ( = 58). For a "control," we used unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) to collect comparable data from nonhandled green turtles ( = 25) in the same habitats.

Energetic connectivity of diverse elasmobranch populations - implications for ecological resilience.

Understanding the factors shaping patterns of ecological resilience is critical for mitigating the loss of global biodiversity. Throughout aquatic environments, highly mobile predators are thought to serve as important vectors of energy between ecosystems thereby promoting stability and resilience. However, the role these predators play in connecting food webs and promoting energy flow remains poorly understood in most contexts.

Linking removal targets to the ecological effects of invaders: a predictive model and field test.

Species invasions have a range of negative effects on recipient ecosystems, and many occur at a scale and magnitude that preclude complete eradication. When complete extirpation is unlikely with available management resources, an effective strategy may be to suppress invasive populations below levels predicted to cause undesirable ecological change. We illustrated this approach by developing and testing targets for the control of invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans and P.

Hooking injury, physiological status and short-term mortality of juvenile lemon sharks (Negaprion bevirostris) following catch-and-release recreational angling.

Sport fishing for sharks, including fishing with the intent to release, is becoming more prevalent within the recreational angling community. Common targets of recreational anglers are juvenile lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) that frequent shallow tropical nearshore habitats. In this study, we captured 32 juvenile lemon sharks (530-875 mm total length) with conventional angling gear (i.