Scaling laws of marine predator search behaviour (original) (raw)

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Acknowledgements

This research was facilitated through the European Tracking of Predators in the Atlantic (EUTOPIA) programme in the European Census of Marine Life (EuroCoML). Funding was provided by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) grant-in-aid to the Marine Biological Association of the UK (MBA), the NERC ‘Oceans 2025’ Strategic Research Programme (Theme 6 Science for Sustainable Marine Resources), UK Defra, The Royal Society and the Fisheries Society of the British Isles. D.W.S. thanks G. Budd, P. Harris, N. Hutchinson and D. Uren for field assistance. G.C.H. thanks Ocean Spirits Incorporated, J. Houghton and A. Myers for logistical help in the field. A.S.B. thanks E. Murphy, M. Brandon, R. Saunders, D. Bone and P. Enderlein for their contributions to mooring sampling at South Georgia. NERC Plymouth Marine Laboratory provided L4 zooplankton data. This research complied with all animal welfare laws of the countries or sovereign territories in which it was conducted. D.W.S. was supported by a NERC-funded MBA Research Fellowship.

Author Contributions D.W.S. conceived and planned the study, led the data analysis and wrote the manuscript. All co-authors contributed to subsequent drafts. Field data of animal movements and/or prey distributions were collected by D.W.S., E.J.S., J.D.M., G.C.H., C.J.A.B., A.S.B., M.A.H., D.M., M.K.M., D.R., V.J.W. and R.P.W. The simulation model was conceived by N.E.H. and D.W.S. with N.E.H. writing the programming code. J.W.P. and A.J. were responsible for analysis of projections of 3D Lévy movements, M.Z.A. and E.L.C.S. coded the power spectrum analysis, C.J.A.B. completed the relative likelihood modelling, and G.C.H. and M.J.W. provided additional data analysis.

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Author notes

  1. Corey J. A. Bradshaw
    Present address: Present address: Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia.,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB, UK,
    David W. Sims, Emily J. Southall, Nicolas E. Humphries & Victoria J. Wearmouth
  2. Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences,,
    David W. Sims
  3. School of Computing, Communications and Electronics, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK,
    Mohammed Z. Ahmed
  4. Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of Environmental Sustainability, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK,
    Graeme C. Hays, Emily L. C. Shepard & Rory P. Wilson
  5. School for Environmental Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory 0909, Australia,
    Corey J. A. Bradshaw
  6. Department of Biology and York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis, University of York, York YO10 5YW, UK
    Jonathan W. Pitchford & Alex James
  7. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
    Alex James
  8. Gatty Marine Laboratory, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
    Andrew S. Brierley
  9. School of Zoology, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 05, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia,
    Mark A. Hindell
  10. School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK
    David Morritt
  11. Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Pelagic Fisheries Research Programme, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Kewalo Research Facility/NOAA Fisheries, 1125-B Ala Mona Boulevard, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814, USA,
    Michael K. Musyl
  12. Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft NR33 0HT, UK,
    David Righton & Julian D. Metcalfe
  13. Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter in Cornwall, Tremough TR10 9EZ, UK
    Matthew J. Witt

Authors

  1. David W. Sims
  2. Emily J. Southall
  3. Nicolas E. Humphries
  4. Graeme C. Hays
  5. Corey J. A. Bradshaw
  6. Jonathan W. Pitchford
  7. Alex James
  8. Mohammed Z. Ahmed
  9. Andrew S. Brierley
  10. Mark A. Hindell
  11. David Morritt
  12. Michael K. Musyl
  13. David Righton
  14. Emily L. C. Shepard
  15. Victoria J. Wearmouth
  16. Rory P. Wilson
  17. Matthew J. Witt
  18. Julian D. Metcalfe

Corresponding author

Correspondence toDavid W. Sims.

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Sims, D., Southall, E., Humphries, N. et al. Scaling laws of marine predator search behaviour.Nature 451, 1098–1102 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06518

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