Network analysis reveals multispecies spatial associations in the shark community of a Caribbean marine protected area

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 633:105-126 (2020) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13158 Network analysis reveals multispecies spatial associations in the shark community of a Caribbean marine protected area Grace A. Casselberry1,*, Andy J. Danylchuk1, John T. Finn1, Bryan M. DeAngelis2, Adrian Jordaan1, Clayton G. Pollock3, Ian Lundgren4, Zandy Hillis-Starr3, Gregory B. Skomal5 1Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA 2The Nature Conservancy, Narragansett, RI 02882, USA 3National Park Service, Christiansted, St. Croix 008020, USVI 4NOAA Fisheries, Pacific Islands Regional Office, Honolulu, HI 96818, USA 5Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, New Bedford, MA 02744, USA *Corresponding author: gcasselberry@umass.edu ABSTRACT: Many shark species exhibit complex spatial ecology throughout their life histories, posing a challenge for conservation and management. Although most marine protected areas (MPAs) were originally established to protect less mobile organisms, protection of shark species from fishing and other impacts is possible if individuals exhibit high residency and site fidelity within the MPA boundaries. For this study, we used a fixed acoustic telemetry array to study the residency, habitat use, and interspecific space use among 4 shark species in Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM), an MPA in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. From June 2013 to May 2017, 11 nurse sharks Ginglymostoma cirratum, 6 lemon sharks Negaprion brevirostris, 13 Caribbean reef sharks Carcharhinus perezi, and 6 tiger sharks Galeocerdo cuvier were monitored in the array. Overall, residency was high for all species, with a mean residency index of 0.52 or higher for each species. Network analysis revealed complex inter- and intraspecific spatial associations among individuals. Community detection algorithms showed that G. cirratum and N. brevirostris frequently used the same areas in BIRNM, selecting for shallow sand and seagrass habitats near linear reefs, while G. cuvier and C. perezi had more individualized space use. C. perezi also exhibited ontogenetic shifts, developing individual territories and using deeper water with increasing body size. This work emphasizes the importance of MPA size, placement, and habitat composition when aiming to protect highly mobile species with potentially large home ranges and shifting space use throughout their life histories. KEY WORDS: Elasmobranchs · Spatial ecology · Acoustic telemetry · Network analysis · Marine protected area Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: Casselberry GA, Danylchuk AJ, Finn JT, DeAngelis BM and others (2020) Network analysis reveals multispecies spatial associations in the shark community of a Caribbean marine protected area. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 633:105-126. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13158 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 633. Online publication date: January 09, 2020 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2020 Inter-Research.