Temporal niche partitioning as a potential mechanism for coexistence in two sympatric mesopredator sharks

Cook, Neil, Jenkins, Abbie, Perry, Sarah, Perkins, Sarah ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7457-2699 and Cable, Joanne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8510-7055 2024. Temporal niche partitioning as a potential mechanism for coexistence in two sympatric mesopredator sharks. Frontiers in Marine Science 11 , 1443357. 10.3389/fmars.2024.1443357

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Abstract

Global marine biodiversity declines require bold and ambitious plans to safeguard ecosystem services. Overfishing, habitat loss and projected climate impacts have yielded deleterious effects on marine predators, in particular, driving increasing threat of extinction for many shark species with implications for ecosystem health. Identifying and protecting critical habitat areas for sharks is fundamental to their protection, and may allow for species recovery. Here we use baited remote underwater video stations to investigate spatial and temporal patterns of habitat use by sharks in a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) that is centrally important to the regional blue economy in the UK, the Cardigan Bay SAC. Our results show heterogeneous spatial habitat use and temporal trends in habitat sharing between smallspotted catsharks Scyliorhinus canicula and nursehounds S. stellaris. Nearshore reef habitats are substantially more important than non-reef habitats for both species. The relative abundance of each species, however, is roughly inversely seasonally proportional, with S. canicula and S. stellaris relative abundance highest in March and September, respectively. Temporal niche partitioning may be an important mechanism in marine systems, but has not been widely investigated in sympatric shark communities. These findings are directly relevant for ongoing development of the Welsh Marine Evidence Strategy (2019-2025) and the Welsh National Marine Plan, particularly to inform spatial planning to strengthen the role of SAC management design in protecting important shark areas.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Biosciences
Publisher:	Frontiers Media
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	15 October 2024
Date of Acceptance:	30 September 2024
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2024 09:29
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/172906

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