title: Acoustic telemetry and network analysis reveal the space use of multiple reef predators and enhance marine protected area design.
abstract: Marine protected areas (MPAs) are commonly employed to protect ecosystems from threats like overfishing. Ideally, MPA design should incorporate movement data from multiple target species to ensure sufficient habitat is protected. We used long-term acoustic telemetry and network analysis to determine the fine-scale space use of five shark and one turtle species at a remote atoll in the Seychelles, Indian Ocean, and evaluate the efficacy of a proposed MPA. Results revealed strong, species-specific habitat use in both sharks and turtles, with corresponding variation in MPA use. Defining the MPA's boundary from the edge of the reef flat at low tide instead of the beach at high tide (the current best in Seychelles) significantly increased the MPA's coverage of predator movements by an average of 34%. Informed by these results, the larger MPA was adopted by the Seychelles government, demonstrating how telemetry data can improve shark spatial conservation by affecting policy directly.
authors.affiliation: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB, UK Marine Research Facility, PO Box 10646, Jeddah 21443, Saudi Arabia Save Our Seas Foundation-D'Arros Research Centre (SOSF-DRC), Rue Philippe Plantamour 20, 1201 Genève, Switzerland School of Marine Science and Engineering, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AA, UK james@eatonlea.co.uk.
authors.forename: James S E
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lea
authors.affiliation: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB, UK.
authors.forename: Nicolas E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Humphries
authors.affiliation: Save Our Seas Foundation-D'Arros Research Centre (SOSF-DRC), Rue Philippe Plantamour 20, 1201 Genève, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Rainer G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: von Brandis
authors.affiliation: School of Marine Science and Engineering, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AA, UK.
authors.forename: Christopher R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.affiliation: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB, UK Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK Centre for Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Building 85, Highfield Campus, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Sims
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D057894:Coral Reefs; D019156:Indian Ocean; D012754:Sharks; D013686:Telemetry; D014426:Turtles
keywords: animal telemetry; conservation; ecology; management