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

  • A.M.M. Sequeira
  • , Jorge P. Rodríguez
  • , S.A. Marley
  • , H.J. Calich
  • , M. van der Mheen
  • , M. VanCompernolle
  • , L.M. Arrowsmith
  • , L.R. Peel
  • , N. Queiroz
  • , M. Vedor
  • , I. da Costa
  • , G. Mucientes
  • , A. Couto
  • , N.E. Humphries
  • , S. Abalo-Morla
  • , F.J. Abascal
  • , D.L. Abercrombie
  • , K. Abrantes
  • , F.A. Abreu-Grobois
  • , A.S. Afonso
  • P. Afonso, H. Ahonen, S. Åkesson, J. Alfaro-Shigueto, R.D. Andrews, F. Angelier, M. Antonopoulou, J.A. Arata, G. Araujo, R. Arauz, J.M. Arcos, I. Arregui, H. Arrizabalaga, M. Auger-Méthé, S. Bach, F. Bailleul, R.W. Baird, G.H. Balazs, S.G. Barco, A. Barnett, W. Baverstock, A.M.M. Baylis, A. Beard, J. Bécares, E.J. Belda, I. Bell, A. Bennison, S.R. Benson, D. Bernal, M.L. Berumen, S. Bessudo, N.P.A. Bezerra, A.V. Blaison, G.S. Blanco, B.A. Block, M. Bolton, M.E. Bond, Ramon Bonfil, C.D. Braun, A.C. Broderick, M.D.L. Brooke, A.M.L. Brooks, E.J. Brooks, I.M. Bruno, J.M. Burns, M.E. Byrne, S.E. Campana, H.A. Campbell, R.A. Campbell, A. Carlisle, R.H. Carmichael, G. Carroll, P. Casale, F.R. Ceia, D.D. Chapman, T.K. Chapple, J.-B. Charrassin, A. Chiaradia, J. Chisholm, C.R. Clarke, T.A. Clay, C. Cleguer, E. Clingham, E.E.G. Clua, J.E.M. Cochran, R. Constantine, Robert W. Cooper, E. Crochelet, M. Cronin, E. Cuevas, K.P. DaCosta, L. Dagorn, R. Daly, R.W. Davis, P.J.N. de Bruyn, C. Delgado-Trejo, T. Dellinger, S. Derville, S. Diamant, A. DiMatteo, K.L. Dodge, P.D. Doherty, M.C. Double, A.D.M. Dove, T.K. Doyle, M.J. Drew, L.L. Dubbs, C.A.J. Duffy, P.H. Dutton, E.W.J. Edwards, L.D. Einoder, M.V. Erdmann, E. Espinoza, N. Esteban, A.I. Fagundes, C. Feare, S.H. Ferguson, L.C. Ferreira, F. Ferretti, J. Filmalter, B. Finucci, G.C. Fischer, R.J. Fitzpatrick, J. Fontes, A. Formia, S. Fossette, M.P. Francis, A.S. Friedlaender, M. Furtado, A.J. Gallagher, C. Garrigue, E. Gennari, H.G. Gilchrist, B.J. Godley, S.D. Goldsworthy, M. Gollock, V.G. Carman, W.J. Grecian, J.R. Green, C. Guinet, J. Gustafson, T.L. Guttridge, H.M. Guzman, D. Hamer, K.C. Hamer, N. Hammerschlag, M.O. Hammill, L. Harman, E. Harrison, C.E. Hart, A.E. Harris, G. Hastie, F.H.V. Hazin, M. Heard, A.R. Hearn, M.P. Heide-Jørgensen, L. Henry, R.W. Henry, V.G. Hernandez, A.E. Herrera, M.A. Hindell, J.C. Holdsworth, B.J. Holmes, L.A. Howey, E.M.H. Padilla, L.A. Huckstadt, R.E. Hueter, P.H. Lara, N.E. Hussey, C. Huveneers, K. Hyland, D.T. Irion, D.M.P. Jacoby, A. Jaeger, M.Y. Jaidah, M. Jessopp, O.J.D. Jewell, R. Johnson, C.G. Jones, I.D. Jonsen, L.K.B. Jordan, S.J. Jorgensen, A. Kato, J.T. Ketchum, A.S. Kitaysky, A.P. Klimley, A.A. Kock, P. Koen, F.L. Archila, F.O. Lana, J.V. Lane, M. Le Corre, M.-A. Lea, J. Lea, E.H.K. Leat, O.A. Lee, J.J. Levenson, C.P. Ley-Quiñonez, F. Llewellyn, G. Lockhart, G.G. Lopez, M. Lopez Mendilaharsu, A.D. Lowther, P. Luschi, M.E. Lutcavage, W.S. Lyon, B.C.L. Macena, A.I. Mackay, C.A. Madden, M.L. Mallory, J.C. Mangel, M. Manning, K.L. Mansfield, D. March, A. Marco, M. Marcoux, D. Acuña-Marrero, H. Marsh, H. Marshall, B. Mate, J.D. McAllister, R.L. McGuire, J. McKenzie, L. McLeay, C.R. McMahon, M. Modest, J. Morris, M.M.C. Muelbert, N. Namboothri, W.J. Nichols, M.A.C. Nicoll, B.M. Norman, K. Norris, E. Olsen, S. Oppel, S. Orlowski, A.M. Pagano, B. Page, V.H. Paiva, D.M. Palacios, Y.P. Papastamatiou, D.M. Parker, C. Pattiaratchi, H. Peckham, C.R. Peñaherrera-Palma, J.G. Pepperell, R.A. Phillips, S.J. Pierce, S.K. Pikesley, N.J. Pilcher, P. Pinet, M. Pinkerton, E. Pirotta, V. Plot, A.N. Powell, K.D. Powers, C.E.M. Prebble, T.J. Preston, R. Prieto, L. Prosdocimi, J.L. Quinn, L.M. Quintero, T. Raclot, I. Ramirez, D. Ramírez-Macías, J.A. Ramos, A.J. Read, R. Ream, A.F. Rees, R.D. Reina, R.R. Reisinger, O. Revuelta, S.D. Reynolds, A.J. Richardson, L. Riekkola, F.G. Riet-Sapriza, D.P. Robinson, P.W. Robinson, C.F.D. Rocha, T.L. Rogers, C.A. Rohner, Y. Ropert-Coudert, M. Ross, D.R.L. Rowat, K. Ruhomaun, P.M. Sagar, M.A. Samoilys, S. Sanchez, A.G. Sandoval-Lugo, E.A.P. dos Santos, A.M. Santos, K.L. Scales, G. Schofield, J.M. Semmens, E. Setyawan, S.A. Shaffer, K. Shanker, M. Sheaves, G.L. Shillinger, M.S. Shivji, A. Sianipar, J.R.D. Silk, M.A. Silva, J. Sim, S.J. Simpson, G. Skomal, D.J. Slip, M.J. Smale, G.A. Soler, M. Soria, L.L. Sousa, E.J. Southall, J.-C. Stahl, K.M. Stehfest, J.T. Sterling, J.D. Stevens, G.M.W. Stevens, J.D. Stewart, A. Swaminathan, A. Takahashi, V. Tatayah, J.-B. Thiebot, P.M. Thompson, S.R. Thorrold, M. Thums, J. Tomás, L.G. Torres, A. Towner, P.N. Trathan, J.P. Tyminski, R.S. van Buiten, R.P. Van Dam, F. Vandeperre, N. Varo-Cruz, J.J. Vaudo, M. Vely, S. Villegas-Amtmann, C. Vincent, D. Waayers, S. Wanless, Y.Y. Watanabe, C.A. Watt, S.B. Weber, N. Weber, M.J. Weise, L. Welch, R.S. Wells, J.M. Werry, B.M. Wetherbee, T.D. White, S.D. Whiting, A.U. Whiting, A. Wiebkin, B. Wienecke, N.E. Wildermann, D.N. Wiley, A. Will, S. Williams, M. Windstein, S. Wischnewski, M.J. Witt, F.C. Womersley, A.G. Wood, L.J. Wright, J.C. Xavier, T. Yamamoto, D.J. Yurkowski, P.M. Zarate, A. Zavala-Norzagaray, A.N. Zerbini, D.P. Costa, R. Harcourt, M.G. Meekan, G.C. Hays, D.W. Sims, C.M. Duarte, V.M. Eguíluz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

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. Coupling area protection with mitigation strategies (e.g., fishing regulation, wildlife-traffic separation) will be essential to reach international goals and conserve biodiversity.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1086-1097
JournalScience
Volume388
Issue number6751
DOIs
StatePublished - 2025

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Global tracking of marine megafauna space use reveals how to achieve conservation targets'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this