Migratory patterns and seasonal habitat use of great hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna mokarran) in the southeastern United States.

The great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran) is a highly mobile shark species whose population in the United States declined dramatically through the early 2000s. Their spatial ecology is poorly understood, creating challenges for effective conservation of this enigmatic marine predator. Using acoustic telemetry and network analyses, we describe the movement patterns of 15 mature great hammerhead sharks (207-331.

Calibrating acceleration transmitters to quantify the seasonal energetic costs of activity in lake trout.

Bioenergetics models are powerful tools used to address a range of questions in fish biology. However, these models are rarely informed by free-swimming activity data, introducing error. To quantify the costs of activity in free-swimming fish, calibrations produced from standardized laboratory trials can be applied to estimate energy expenditure from sensor data for specific tags and species.

Application of telemetry-based fish habitat models to predict spatial habitat availability and inform ecological restoration.

Conservation decisions surrounding which fish habitats managers choose to protect and restore are informed by fish habitat models. As acoustic telemetry has allowed for improvements in our ability to directly measure fish positions year-round, so too have there been opportunities to refine and apply fish habitat models. In an area with considerable anthropogenic disturbance, Hamilton Harbour in the Laurentian Great Lakes, we used telemetry-based fish habitat models to identify key habitat variables, compare habitat associations among seasons, and spatially identify the presence distribution of six fish species.

Using heart rate and acceleration biologgers to estimate winter activity costs in free-swimming largemouth bass.

Winter is a critical period for largemouth bass (Micropterus nigricans) with winter severity and duration limiting their population growth at northern latitudes. Unfortunately, we have an incomplete understanding of their winter behaviour and energy use in the wild. More winter-focused research is needed to better understand their annual energy budget, improve bioenergetics models, and establish baselines to assess the impacts of climate warming; however, winter research is challenging due to ice cover.

Thermal performance curves for aerobic scope and specific dynamic action in a sexually dimorphic piscivore: implications for a warming climate.

Digestion can make up a substantial proportion of animal energy budgets, yet our understanding of how it varies with sex, body mass and ration size is limited. A warming climate may have consequences for animal growth and feeding dynamics that will differentially impact individuals in their ability to efficiently acquire and assimilate meals. Many species, such as walleye (Sander vitreus), exhibit sexual size dimorphism (SSD), whereby one sex is larger than the other, suggesting sex differences in energy acquisition and/or expenditure.

Accelerometer-based swimming metabolism of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu).

Bioenergetics is informative for a range of fundamental and applied resource management questions, but findings are often constrained by a lack of ecological realism due to the challenges of remotely estimating key parameters such as metabolic rate. To enable field applications, we conducted a calibration study with smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu, 0.7-2 kg) surgically implanted with accelerometer transmitters and exposed to a ramp-U swimming protocol in a swim tunnel respirometer across a range of water temperatures (6, 12, 18, and 24°C).

Applied winter biology: threats, conservation and management of biological resources during winter in cold climate regions.

Winter at high latitudes is characterized by low temperatures, dampened light levels and short photoperiods which shape ecological and evolutionary outcomes from cells to populations to ecosystems. Advances in our understanding of winter biological processes (spanning physiology, behaviour and ecology) highlight that biodiversity threats (e.g.

Telemetry-based spatial-temporal fish habitat models for fishes in an urban freshwater harbour.

Unlabelled: Fish habitat associations are important measures for effective aquatic habitat management, but often vary over broad spatial and temporal scales, and are therefore challenging to measure comprehensively. We used a 9-year acoustic telemetry dataset to generate spatial-temporal habitat suitability models for seven fish species in an urban freshwater harbour, Toronto Harbour, Lake Ontario. Fishes generally occupied the more natural regions of Toronto Harbour most frequently.

Tiger sharks support the characterization of the world's largest seagrass ecosystem.

Seagrass conservation is critical for mitigating climate change due to the large stocks of carbon they sequester in the seafloor. However, effective conservation and its potential to provide nature-based solutions to climate change is hindered by major uncertainties regarding seagrass extent and distribution. Here, we describe the characterization of the world's largest seagrass ecosystem, located in The Bahamas.

Cascading effects of climate change on recreational marine flats fishes and fisheries.

Tropical and subtropical coastal flats are shallow regions of the marine environment at the intersection of land and sea. These regions provide myriad ecological goods and services, including recreational fisheries focused on flats-inhabiting fishes such as bonefish, tarpon, and permit. The cascading effects of climate change have the potential to negatively impact coastal flats around the globe and to reduce their ecological and economic value.

The movement ecology of fishes.

Movement of fishes in the aquatic realm is fundamental to their ecology and survival. Movement can be driven by a variety of biological, physiological and environmental factors occurring across all spatial and temporal scales. The intrinsic capacity of movement to impact fish individually (e.

An energetics-performance framework for wild fishes.

There is growing evidence that bioenergetics can explain relationships between environmental conditions and fish behaviour, distribution and fitness. Fish energetic needs increase predictably with water temperature, but metabolic performance (i.e.

Predator-prey landscapes of large sharks and game fishes in the Florida Keys.

Interspecific interactions can play an essential role in shaping wildlife populations and communities. To date, assessments of interspecific interactions, and more specifically predator-prey dynamics, in aquatic systems over broad spatial and temporal scales (i.e.

Global COVID-19 lockdown highlights humans as both threats and custodians of the environment.

The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundreds of reports of unusual species observations from around the world suggest that animals quickly responded to the reductions in human presence.

Technological innovations in the recreational fishing sector: implications for fisheries management and policy.

Technology that is developed for or adopted by the recreational fisheries sector (e.g., anglers and the recreational fishing industry) has led to rapid and dramatic changes in how recreational anglers interact with fisheries resources.

Application of machine learning algorithms to identify cryptic reproductive habitats using diverse information sources.

Information on ecological systems often comes from diverse sources with varied levels of complexity, bias, and uncertainty. Accordingly, analytical techniques continue to evolve that address these challenges to reveal the characteristics of ecological systems and inform conservation actions. We applied multiple statistical learning algorithms (i.

Seasonal occupancy and connectivity amongst nearshore flats and reef habitats by permit Trachinotus falcatus: considerations for fisheries management.

We used acoustic telemetry to quantify permit Trachinotus falcatus habitat use and connectivity in proximity to the Florida Keys, USA, and assessed these patterns relative to current habitat and fisheries management practices. From March 2017 to June 2018, 45 permit tagged within 16 km of the lower Florida Keys were detected at stationary acoustic receivers throughout the south Florida region, the majority of which remained within the Special Permit Zone, where more extensive fisheries harvest regulations are implemented. There was a high level of connectivity between nearshore flats (i.

An appetite for invasion: digestive physiology, thermal performance and food intake in lionfish ( spp.).

Species invasions threaten global biodiversity, and physiological characteristics may determine their impact. Specific dynamic action (SDA; the increase in metabolic rate associated with feeding and digestion) is one such characteristic, strongly influencing an animal's energy budget and feeding ecology. We investigated the relationship between SDA, scope for activity, metabolic phenotype, temperature and feeding frequency in lionfish ( spp.

Collaboration and engagement produce more actionable science: quantitatively analyzing uptake of fish tracking studies.

Aquatic telemetry technology generates new knowledge about the underwater world that can inform decision-making processes and thus can improve conservation and natural resource management. Still, there is lack of evidence on how telemetry-derived knowledge can or has informed management, and what factors facilitate or deter its use. We present one of the first quantitative studies related to the science-action gap and evaluate factors that influence the uptake of fish telemetry findings into policies and practices, as well as social acceptance of these findings.

Exploring relationships between cardiovascular activity and parental care behavior in nesting smallmouth bass: A field study using heart rate biologgers.

Research in a variety of vertebrate taxa has found that cardiac function is a major limiting factor in the ability of animals to cope with physiological challenges, and thus is suggested to play an important role in mediating fitness-related behaviors in the wild. Yet, there remains a paucity of empirical assessments of the relationships between physiological performance and biological fitness in wild animals, partially due to challenges in measuring these metrics remotely. Using male smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) as a model, we tested for relationships between cardiac performance (measured using heart rate biologgers) and fitness-related behaviors (assessed using videography and snorkeler observations) in the wild during the parental care period.

Searching for responsible and sustainable recreational fisheries in the Anthropocene.

Recreational fisheries that use rod and reel (i.e., angling) operate around the globe in diverse freshwater and marine habitats, targeting many different gamefish species and engaging at least 220 million participants.

Exercise intensity while hooked is associated with physiological status of longline-captured sharks.

Some shark populations face declines owing to targeted capture and by-catch in longline fisheries. Exercise intensity during longline capture and physiological status may be associated, which could inform management strategies aimed at reducing the impacts of longline capture on sharks. The purpose of this study was to characterize relationships between exercise intensity and physiological status of longline-captured nurse sharks () and Caribbean reef sharks ().

Estimating fish swimming metrics and metabolic rates with accelerometers: the influence of sampling frequency.

Accelerometry is growing in popularity for remotely measuring fish swimming metrics, but appropriate sampling frequencies for accurately measuring these metrics are not well studied. This research examined the influence of sampling frequency (1-25 Hz) with tri-axial accelerometer biologgers on estimates of overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA), tail-beat frequency, swimming speed and metabolic rate of bonefish Albula vulpes in a swim-tunnel respirometer and free-swimming in a wetland mesocosm. In the swim tunnel, sampling frequencies of ≥ 5 Hz were sufficient to establish strong relationships between ODBA, swimming speed and metabolic rate.

Influence of supraphysiological cortisol manipulation on predator avoidance behaviors and physiological responses to a predation threat in a wild marine teleost fish.

The stress axis in teleost fish attempts to maintain internal homeostasis in the face of allostatic loading. However, stress axis induction has been associated with a higher predation rate in fish. To date, the physiological and behavioral factors associated with this outcome are poorly understood.