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Variability in the movement patterns of marine predator populations: physiological, behavioural and environmental drivers. A CLIOTOP WG2 workshop

Evans Karen 1, Hazen Elliott 2,3, Wilson Rory 4

1: CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Australia (karen.evans@csiro.au)

2: University of California Santa Cruz, USA (elliott.hazen@noaa.gov)

3: Environmental Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA

4: Swansea Lab. for Animal Movement, Swansea University, United Kingdom (R.P.Wilson@swansea.ac.uk)

Many marine predator species and populations demonstrate spatial and temporal variability in their movement patterns and behaviours. Variability in the extent and timing of migration, habitats utilised and foraging behaviours within habitats for example, have been observed in fish, sharks, sea turtles, marine mammals and seabirds. These movement patterns and behaviours of species and populations have evolved in response to life history strategies and the need to maximize prey resources. When movement patterns and breeding timing are misaligned with critical food resources, populations can have reproductive failure - the match/mismatch effect. Identification of linkages between movement behaviours and temporal and spatial variability in environmental conditions and the potential for match/mismatch effects is fundamental to understanding how populations and species may respond to long-term environmental change.

This workshop will bring together researchers with datasets from species/populations of pelagic fish, turtles, marine mammals and seabirds, and examine variability in movement behaviour. During the session, researchers will firstly be expected to provide short overviews of datasets brought to the workshop and any pre-processing undertaken on datasets to ensure standardised formatting in preparation for analyses to be conducted during the workshop. Using state-of-the- art analytical approaches, researchers will then focus on (i) analyses of datasets aimed at exploring potential differences in the behaviour of species/populations and drivers (e.g. differences in their environment, differences in physiology) that might be associated with movement decisions over a range of scales and (ii) development of a synthesis paper exploring some of the physiological, behavioural and environmental drivers that may be associated with variability in observed movements during the course of the workshop. A synthesis paper will be finalised for publication in a peer-review journal following the workshop. A workshop report will also be produced to be published on the CLIOTOP and IMBER websites. The paper and report produced will contribute to the synthesis outputs of the international CLIOTOP program.