Movement Ecology最新文献

{"title":"Assessment of goose-beaked whale responses to mid-frequency active sonar using a hierarchical hidden Markov model.","authors":"Stacy L DeRuiter, Erin A Falcone, Shannon N Coates, Brenda K Rone, David A Sweeney, Karin A Dolan, Susan M Jarvis, Russel D Andrews, Stephanie L Watwood, Gregory S Schorr","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00647-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00647-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>BACKGROUND: Acoustic disturbance is increasingly recognized as an ecological concern, particularly at sea. In light of marine mammal stranding events associated with use of naval mid-frequency active sonar (MFAS), which often involve goose-beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris), research has sought to detect and characterize Ziphius behavioral responses to MFAS. METHODS: We deployed Sound and Motion Recording and Telemetry (SMRT) tags on 13 Ziphius in the Southern California Bight. The study area includes the United States Navy’s Southern California Anti-submarine Warfare Range (SOAR), and deployments overlapped temporally with training exercises including MFAS use. We used hierarchical hidden Markov models (HHMMs), which provided a framework to model whale behavior and putative responses to MFAS at two relevant time scales: foraging dive cycles, which may last hours, and five-minute intervals, where finer-scale changes in movement and behavior are evident. RESULTS: We analyzed 70.7 days of tag data (1697.6 h) representing 361 Ziphius foraging dive cycles, 52 with MFAS detections. Cumulative MFAS sound energy level (cSEL) per dive cycle was 69.9–160.3 dB re 1µPa2s (median 121.3, inter-quartile range (IQR) 21.7). We identified two dive-cycle states: “Typical” and “Variant.” In Variant state, durations of dive cycles, foraging dives, non-foraging dives, and echolocation periods were shorter on average but more variable, while time spent near the surface and net distance traveled were longer and more variable. According to Akaike’s information criterion (AIC), MFAS cSEL (rather than per-sound maximum received level) increased the probability of switching from Typical to Variant dive-cycle state, with MFAS cSEL also modulating transition rates between four fine-scale behavior states during Variant dive cycles only. Whales transitioned to Variant state in 12 of 52 MFAS-exposed dive cycles (23.1%), with observed Variant state dwell times ranging from 1 to 72.4 h (median 9.0, IQR 9.2). CONCLUSIONS: This work has relevance for conservation and management, enhancing our understanding of Ziphius behavioral responses to operational MFAS in an area where naval training activities occur regularly. These analysis tools may prove useful in assessing responses to other acoustic disturbance and understanding how shorter-term behavior changes translate to longer-term consequences. </p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13107642/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147789258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Convective rainfall drives behavioral shifts across multiple foraging scales in breeding seabirds.","authors":"Wataru Takeda, Shiho Koyama, Yusuke Goto, Ken Yoda","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00648-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00648-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>BACKGROUND: Rainfall can influence seabird foraging behavior through interactions with other climatic variables, such as wind speed and cloud cover, causing both immediate constraints on flight and foraging activity and longer-term changes via shifts in prey distribution. To understand the ecological significance of rainfall, it is therefore necessary to examine foraging behavior across multiple spatiotemporal scales. Rainfall can be broadly classified into convective and large-scale types based on spatial extent and persistence, yet their distinct effects on seabird foraging behavior have rarely been explicitly tested. METHODS: We examined how two types of rainfall (convective and large-scale rainfall), cloud cover, and wind speed relate to foraging behavior and chick growth in streaked shearwaters (Calonectris leucomelas) rearing chicks on Awashima Island, Japan, from 2011 to 2024. Foraging behavior was quantified at three spatiotemporal scales: (1) fine-scale behavioral states (traveling, foraging, and resting), estimated using a hidden Markov model; (2) meso-scale trip parameters, including maximum range and trip duration; and (3) broad-scale behavioral specialization, quantified as Individual Foraging Site Fidelity (IFSF). Chick growth rate was used as a proxy for the cumulative outcomes of foraging behavior. RESULTS: Increased convective rainfall was associated with higher transition probabilities from other states to the foraging state and with higher IFSF. In contrast, increased large-scale rainfall was associated with lower transition probabilities from the foraging state to other states, longer maximum range, and lower IFSF. In addition, wind speed was associated with changes in fine-scale behavioral states and meso-scale trip parameters, whereas cloud cover showed no ecologically meaningful effects. None of the climatic factors examined were associated with chick growth. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term, localized convective rainfall is likely to alter foraging conditions in ways consistent with its defining characteristics, leading to rapid switches to foraging behavior and higher IFSF through increased patchiness in prey distribution. In contrast, because large-scale rainfall is persistent and spatially extensive, it likely promoted sustained foraging behavior and more homogeneous prey distributions, resulting in lower IFSF. By examining climatic effects across multiple spatiotemporal scales, this study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of how climate change influences seabird foraging behavior. </p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13191980/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147693326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Warming temperatures increase close encounters between two top predator species via changes in spatial behaviour.","authors":"Kasim Rafiq, Anna C Nisi, Neil R Jordan, Krystyna A Golabek, J W McNutt, Alan Wilson, Laura Prugh, Dikatholo Kedikilwe, Briana Abrahms","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00635-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00635-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Effectively responding to changing environmental and ecological conditions, such as changing climatic conditions, is crucial for individual survival, population dynamics, and ecosystem structuring. Yet it is often unclear to what extent climate-mediated behavioural adjustments impact potential interspecific dynamics within upper trophic levels, particularly within top predator guilds, such as large mammalian carnivores, and to what extent such environmentally mediated plasticity shapes encounters among top predators. We used the African large predator guild, one of the last remaining functionally intact large predator assemblages, to investigate the impacts of ambient temperature on spatial behaviour and close encounters amongst top predators. Using high-resolution GPS data collected over eight years (2011–2018) from 43 individuals across lions (Panthera leo), cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), and African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), we found one of the first empirical examples of changes in close encounters, herein encounters, between top predator species due to temperature variability. The probability of encounters increased under warming temperatures between cheetahs and lions, with encounters 6.6 times more likely following hot (90th percentile) days, compared to median temperature days. Moreover, we found that these responses paralleled changes in habitat selection and spatial overlap between the species rather than with reductions in temporal partitioning. Interestingly, despite functional similarities between cheetahs and African wild dogs, we found no evidence that African wild dog and lion encounter probabilities, nor spatial overlap, changed as a function of temperature, suggesting that species-specific differences in competitor risk sensitivity may buffer African wild dogs from temperature-driven shifts in competition. Our results provide empirical evidence linking climate variability to changes in close encounters among top predators and highlight how temperature-driven behavioural shifts may alter spatial and temporal relationships between species.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13182089/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147663311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Social influences complement environmental cues to stimulate migrating juvenile salmon.","authors":"Maria Kuruvilla, Thomas P Quinn, Joseph H Anderson, Mark D Scheuerell, Erika M Miller, Andrew G Berger, Connie Okasaki, John R McMillan, George R Pess, Peter A H Westley, Andrew M Berdahl","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00644-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00644-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>BACKGROUND: The large-scale seasonal migrations undertaken by many species require complex navigational and timing decisions. Animals migrating in groups might benefit from collective decision making, especially if the environment has large local variation rather than smooth gradients in, for example, salinity or temperature, or is unpredictable, or if the migrants cannot rely on individually acquired information. We focus on juvenile salmon whose downstream migration is timed to match suitable conditions for growth and survival at sea. While the environmental and physiological factors that influence the timing of migration have been well studied, the influence of social interactions on migration timing is poorly understood. METHOD: We compiled data on two species of juvenile salmon, collected at traps over 19 years, during their downstream seaward migration in three rivers in Washington state along with relevant environmental data. We developed state space statistical models to estimate the influence of hatchery-produced salmon in stimulating the downstream migration of wild salmon, while also incorporating potential environmental stimuli. RESULTS: Our results are consistent with the “pied-piper” hypothesis that large numbers of migrating hatchery-origin salmon provide a social cue stimulating migration of co-occurring wild salmon. The increase in the number of hatchery salmon counted at the trap was a strong predictor of the increase in wild sub-yearling Chinook salmon in the Dungeness, Puyallup, and Skagit rivers and yearling coho salmon in the Puyallup and Skagit rivers. Migration timing was also associated with abiotic factors related to temperature, river flow, and time of year. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the potential for social cues to affect migration timing of downstream migrating salmon, in concert with environmental factors. Incorporating social information into timing decisions may allow animals to benefit from collective decision-making strategies and better time their migrations. Moreover, understanding the effects of large-scale hatchery releases on wild salmon migration may provide valuable insights for planning the timing and duration of hatchery releases. </p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13188761/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147629276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Physical crowding truncates intrinsic Lévy-like motility into caste-specific movement regimes in social termites.","authors":"Zhuang-Dong Bai, Jia-Xu Han, Nan Ye, Chao Wang, David Sillam-Dussès, Rui-Wu Wang","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00646-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00646-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lévy-like movement patterns, characterized by heavy-tailed step-length distributions, are often considered a highly efficient strategy for solitary searching. While recent studies have established that isolated termite workers possess intrinsic Lévy-like motility templates, how these scale-free patterns differ across functionally distinct castes—and how they adapt to the extreme physical crowding typical of natural subterranean galleries remains unresolved. Here, using high-resolution tracking of the subterranean termite Reticulitermes labralis across group sizes from solitary individuals (N = 1) to high jammed crowds (N = 1,000), we reveal a fundamental motility asymmetry between castes. Building upon established worker baseline, we demonstrate that these intrinsic behavioral templates are highly heterogeneous: although solitary individuals of both castes intrinsically exhibit Lévy-like motion, workers maintain a significantly stronger super-diffusive baseline compared to queens, reflecting an innate predisposition for extensive exploration. As social density increases, physical blocking (steric repulsion) universally truncates trajectories toward multi-phasic Brownian dynamics. However, this truncation is functionally divergent: workers retain greater mobility resilience, preserving exploration efficiency even under crowding, whereas queens rapidly succumb to physical entrapment. Integrating empirical data with an Agent-Based Model, we show that this transition emerges naturally from pervasive physical constraints. Our findings suggest that the interplay between caste-specific intrinsic templates and uniform physical blocking spontaneously organizes the colony’s division of labor: workers are tuned for efficient exploration, while queens are physically constrained to become static interaction hubs.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13173929/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147617013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Six decades of animal accelerometry: trends, applications, and future directions.","authors":"Jessica L Rudd, Martin A Collins, David Righton, Holly L White, Matthew J Witt, Serena Wright, Lucy A Hawkes","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00641-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00641-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The use of animal-borne devices to measure acceleration has yielded insights into animal locomotion, behaviour and energy expenditure. We present the first systematic review of accelerometry on animals, spanning 60 years, across ecology, biomechanics, agriculture, neurosciences, medical and veterinary sciences from over 400 species and 1520 studies. Most work to date is on terrestrial mammals, particularly domesticated species, while aerial and aquatic animals are relatively under-represented owing to device size and attachment constraints, and just one study has been conducted on amphibians. Despite this, accelerometry research has expanded globally across nearly 100 countries, across all groups of animals including birds, fish, invertebrates, mammals, and reptiles, and across wild and captive animals, including domesticated and non-domesticated species. A variety of software has been used, with open-source software and, more recently, machine learning tools being employed. On-board processing of accelerometry data, including real-time behavioural classification with deep learning to improve accuracy, can reduce power consumption and memory use several-fold, increasing deployment duration. Transfer of device types, sensors and analytical routines between fields in accelerometry offers considerable opportunities for advancing the field. For example, precision livestock farming uses real-time welfare monitoring, which could be adapted for aquaculture or even wild animal monitoring in areas with good data connectivity, while medical sector health monitoring could be used for wild animal disease tracking. The rapid growth in accelerometry requires urgent collaborative approaches to address big data challenges. This includes establishing standardised data repositories, developing open-electronics for low-cost device development and bespoke sensors, fostering capacity building and technical collaboration for device and algorithm advancements. This review also highlights geographic inequities in research accessibility and authorship, with less than 6% of accelerometry studies originating from authors from Africa, South America and Asia (excluding Japan, which contributed the second most studies globally) combined. The field must prioritise translational and inclusive research practices and cross-disciplinary collaboration to maximise scientific value and foster innovation while maximising animal welfare.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13045147/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147610696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Migration routes of three closely related species lead to different non-breeding regions with contrasting environmental conditions.","authors":"Yann Rime, Dave Lutgen, Áron Péter, Niloofar Alaei Kakhki, Marc Illa, Joanna B Wong, Gilles Hauser, Marco Pilati, Pavlos Andriopoulos, Sissel Sjöberg, Attila D Sándor, Reto Burri","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00643-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00643-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding migration strategies in closely related species is essential to assess population-specific threats and to identify the ecological drivers of speciation. To compare migration strategies and environmental conditions across the annual cycle, we tracked Western Black-eared Wheatears, Eastern Black-eared Wheatears and Pied Wheatears. Individual migration routes were reconstructed from multi-sensor loggers and light-level geolocator data. Western Black-eared Wheatears breeding in Spain migrated south-west to Mauritania and Mali, overwintering at a single site in arid regions at the Sahara’s edge. Eastern Black-eared Wheatears breeding in Greece crossed the Mediterranean and Sahara to reach the Sahel, using single non-breeding sites in Nigeria, Chad, and Niger, much further west than previously assumed. Pied Wheatears breeding in Romania migrated via Turkey and the Arabian Peninsula, and overwintered in Somalia, with some individuals shifting sites during winter. Migration strategies differed: Eastern Black-eared Wheatears performed large-scale loop migration. Pied Wheatears used direct routes and did not follow their presumed former range expansion around the Black Sea. Environmental data suggested that non-breeding conditions contrasted stronger than breeding conditions: Western Black-eared Wheatears occupied arid non-breeding sites at the edge of the Sahara that remained dry throughout their stay, Eastern Black-eared Wheatears arrived in the Sahel at the end of the rainy season, and Pied Wheatears had two rainy seasons in the Horn of Africa. These results highlight distinct migration strategies and non-breeding conditions in three closely related wheatears, underlining the importance of species-specific or even population-specific tracking to refine non-breeding range delineation and inform conservation.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13045039/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147534402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating multiple observation data sources to facilitate movement modelling of killer whale pods.","authors":"Peter R Thompson, Michael Dowd, Harald Yurk, Ruth Joy","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00645-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00645-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>BACKGROUND: Animal movement modelling is vital to the conservation and protection of animal populations across the world, but models must be flexible and diverse to account for the different ways animals move and the different methods we use to observe them. Most widespread techniques for modelling movement rely on observation data that are at least fairly consistent in their temporal sampling rate and measurement error variance (e.g., from electronic tracking devices). Animal populations lacking such data require modifications to traditional models if their locomotive behavior is to be sufficiently understood. METHODS: We develop such a model and fit it to a diverse collection of observation data tracking the movement paths of Southern Resident killer whales in the Salish Sea, a core region within their distribution. We expanded upon existing continuous-time models for animal movement, which generate results that are invariant to the sampling rate of the input data, by assuming separate measurement error distributions for different data types, applying a sub-algorithm to automatically detect and downweight potential outliers, and incorporating the movements of a group of animals into one single model. RESULTS: Our model effectively handles irregular time gaps, different observation methods (and associated error distributions), and even the group-oriented fashion with which the whales move. Despite most observations merely indicating the presence of some individuals in the group, or simply reporting the presence of the entire group without location estimates for each individual, our model was still able to parameterize qualities of the whales’ movements, including average speed, directional autocorrelation, and spatial “spacing” between pod members. CONCLUSION: Our results provide quantitative support for existing estimates of movement speed and directionality for this population and can be used to generate realistic and flexible simulations of killer whale movement paths. Our methodological developments expand the applicability of continuous-time movement modelling to a broader array of animal populations where traditional data collection techniques are not possible. </p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13147723/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147522787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Offshore movement by the portunid crab Scylla serrata (crustacea: decapoda): new insights into the behaviour and ecology of females migrating to spawn from micro pop-up satellite archival tags.","authors":"Nicholas J Stratford, Samuel M Seghers, Nicole Flint, Julie B Robins","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00636-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00636-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>BACKGROUND: Movement to spawn in offshore waters provides numerous benefits to inshore marine fish and crustacean species, but there is often limited empirical data on the behaviour and ecology of this key aspect of their life history. This is the case for Portunid mud crabs of the genus Scylla, which have swimming abilities and are widely distributed throughout the Indo-West Pacific. METHODS: Two lines of evidence were used to quantitatively and qualitatively improve the understanding of the spawning migration of Scylla serrata, the largest of the four species of mud crab: (i) the novel application of the smallest pop-up satellite archival tag available to twelve females considered to have advanced ovarian development, and (ii) the collation of requested sightings of migrating and/or egg-bearing females. The satellite tags provided empirical data on the movement and behaviour of migrating females, whilst the collated sightings (n = 101) provided information on the direction and seasonality of migration. The study occurred between October 2020 and June 2024 in the waters of Queensland, Australia, that included the continental shelves of the Gulf of Carpentaria (approximately 12–18°S, 138–142°E) and the Queensland’s east coast (approximately 11–28°S, 142–153.5°E). RESULTS: Satellite tag data was obtained from nine individuals, with 30 second interval depth, temperature, and light archived data available from two individuals, including one egg-bearing female. This data indicated three types of behaviour associated with the spawning migration: (i) estuarine benthic behaviour in shallow water (<10 m) where these benthic dwelling crabs remain mostly on the sea floor of tidal estuarine habitats; (ii) active swimming behaviour when the crabs alternated between near surface positioning interspersed with sedentary behaviour at increasing depth likely indicative of swimming to deeper offshore waters; and (iii) offshore benthic behaviour in deeper waters (>20 m). Over 100 sightings of spawning females provided a broadscale insight into their movement and possible offshore destinations. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated the offshore spawning migration of giant mud crabs is variable, depending on local bathymetric and oceanographic conditions, which has consequences for larval distribution and the genetic and demographic connectivity of this species. Pop-up satellite archival tags can provide novel insights into the spawning migration of brachyuran crabs, providing additional information to inform fisheries management. </p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13112637/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147481493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Juveniles and where to find them: a basin-scale habitat model for the lost years of loggerhead sea turtles in the North Atlantic.","authors":"M Bartolini, E L Hazen, H Parra, K A Bjorndal, A B Bolten, F Dell'Amico, T Dellinger, R Dietz, M A R Santos, C Sasso, N Varo-Cruz, J A Bermejo Dominguez, D Cejudo, L F López-Jurado, F Vandeperre","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00640-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00640-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Juvenile loggerhead sea turtles represent a crucial but understudied stage of the species life cycle. Most studies have been conducted at regional scales and there remains a need for a broader scale synthesis. In the North Atlantic, loggerheads encounter numerous threats such as fishing during their transoceanic journey, so it is important to get a broad view of their distribution, movement and habitat preferences.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>For this study, we gathered tracking data from 124 juvenile loggerheads tagged along the Azores, Canary Islands, Madeira and in the western North Atlantic to develop a habitat model for the entire basin. We used a SSM to interpolate tracks to daily positions, simulated pseudo-absences with a correlated random walk for background data, and explored 17 environmental variables using boosted regression trees to select the best model in terms of biological realism and predictive power. The best model obtained (AUC = 0.988) was then used to predict habitat suitability for the North Atlantic for the period 1998-2022. Stranding records of loggerheads in France, UK and Ireland were used to discuss the predictions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>After filtering, tracks of 105 individuals, covering most of the basin, were used in the model. Our predictions of habitat suitability show the importance of the Gulf Stream and the Azorean Current. Habitat suitability is predicted to be higher in the area between 30° and 45°N all year round, while open waters below 30°N, including Cape Verde, are not predicted to be a suitable habitat. In northern and eastern areas, like the Bay of Biscay and UK and Irish waters, habitat suitability varied seasonally, with colder seasons showing lower values. Accordingly, strandings in those areas occurred mostly during winter (December-February; 45.1%) and spring (March-May; 34.1%).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The model offers a first basin-scale prediction of the seasonal distribution of juvenile loggerheads in the North-Atlantic, which shows consistency with stranding and bycatch data in the basin. This study represents a first step towards a broader scale understanding of juveniles' habitat preferences that can be used to quantify the magnitude and extent of the threats that they face.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13045095/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147461029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}