Title:

Movement networks and habitat preferences of a multi-species elasmobranch assemblage in Bimini, Bahamas.

Overview:

Describing the ecological role of a species is contingent upon a holistic understanding of the relationships between animal movement, physical environment, and interactions with con-/heterospecifics. Such interactions define the structure and dynamics of populations and communities. How large predators influence these processes in marine systems, however, remains poorly understood. Here, a combination of passive acoustic telemetry, baited remote underwater video system (BRUVS) and fixed environmental data loggers will be deployed in an island system in Bimini, The Bahamas, to identify physical (water temperature, depth) and biological drivers (competition, prey availability, predation risk) of movement and migration, habitat and space use, habitat specificity and spatial hotspots of lemon Negaprion brevirostris, great hammerhead Sphyrna mokarran, tiger Galeocerdo cuvier, nurse Ginglymostoma cirratum, bull Carcharhinus leucas, blacktip C. limbatus, Caribbean reef C. perezi sharks, and southern stingray Dasyatis americana. A multi-habitat acoustic array will monitor localized movements and residencies, while a data share collaboration of acoustic arrays will monitor long-distance movements. BRUV surveys will be employed to assess relative abundance and distribution of elasmobranch and prey species for each habitat type that are representative of the Bimini array. The creation of mechanistic home range models, through quantification of elasmobranch habitat associations and movement networks, will be vital to delineate key areas for protection and predict home range size and the impacts of anthropogenic perturbations.