Multi-decade northward shift of loggerhead sea turtle pelagic habitat as the eastern North Pacific Transition Zone becomes more oligotrophic
The North Pacific Transition Zone (NPTZ) is known as a global marine hotspot for many endangered and commercially significant highly mobile marine species. In the last few decades, the region has undergone unprecedented physical and biological transformations in response to climate variability and c...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1513162/full |
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| author | Dana K. Briscoe Dana K. Briscoe Larry B. Crowder George H. Balazs Jeffrey A. Seminoff Alberto Abreu Catherine A. Lee Hing Masanori Kurita Masanori Mori Denise M. Parker Marc R. Rice Tomomi Saito Bianca S. Santos Calandra N. Turner Tomaszewicz Noah Yamaguchi Jeffrey J. Polovina |
| author_facet | Dana K. Briscoe Dana K. Briscoe Larry B. Crowder George H. Balazs Jeffrey A. Seminoff Alberto Abreu Catherine A. Lee Hing Masanori Kurita Masanori Mori Denise M. Parker Marc R. Rice Tomomi Saito Bianca S. Santos Calandra N. Turner Tomaszewicz Noah Yamaguchi Jeffrey J. Polovina |
| author_sort | Dana K. Briscoe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The North Pacific Transition Zone (NPTZ) is known as a global marine hotspot for many endangered and commercially significant highly mobile marine species. In the last few decades, the region has undergone unprecedented physical and biological transformations in response to climate variability and change. Although it is anticipated that many highly mobile species will need to adapt and shift their distributions, current predictions have relied on short-term data sets or modeled simulations. This has left a critical gap in our understanding of long-term (decadal or longer) change and species’ responses within the NPTZ. Here, we integrate nearly 3 decades of satellite tracking data from a climate sentinel, the juvenile North Pacific loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), with concurrent observations of sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll-a concentrations to examine higher trophic level response to climate-induced changes within the eastern bounds of the NPTZ. Between 1997–2024, the NPTZ has warmed by 1.6°C and experienced an approximately 19% decline in mean surface chlorophyll-a concentration, a proxy for reduced productivity, resulting in a 28% (1.65 million km2) increase in total oligotrophic habitat in the eastern NPTZ. Over the same period, the average latitude of loggerhead sea turtle foraging habitat in the NPTZ has shifted northwards by 450–600 km. This represents a distributional shift rate of 116–200km/decade. In most years both the southern and northern range limits for the loggerhead turtle have shifted northward in tandem, indicating a habitat range shift rather than a range expansion. Our findings reveal significant physical and biological change to the NPTZ over the last quarter century and the first empirical evidence illustrating the substantial spatial response of a highly mobile megafaunal species. As the NPTZ continues to become more oligotrophic, these insights can provide vital information for dynamic conservation and management strategies within this critically important ecosystem. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ef8dc2ca0a804a739d3552d89144c8be |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-ef8dc2ca0a804a739d3552d89144c8be2025-01-22T05:19:23ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452025-01-011110.3389/fmars.2024.15131621513162Multi-decade northward shift of loggerhead sea turtle pelagic habitat as the eastern North Pacific Transition Zone becomes more oligotrophicDana K. Briscoe0Dana K. Briscoe1Larry B. Crowder2George H. Balazs3Jeffrey A. Seminoff4Alberto Abreu5Catherine A. Lee Hing6Masanori Kurita7Masanori Mori8Denise M. Parker9Marc R. Rice10Tomomi Saito11Bianca S. Santos12Calandra N. Turner Tomaszewicz13Noah Yamaguchi14Jeffrey J. Polovina15Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesUniversity of California, Santa Cruz, Institute of Marine Sciences, Santa Cruz, CA, United StatesDoerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesGolden Honu Services of Oceania, Honolulu, HI, United StatesSouthwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), La Jolla, CA, United StatesLaboratorio de Genética, Unidad Académica Mazatlán, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional, Autónoma de México, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, MexicoDoerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesPort of Nagoya Public Aquarium, Nagoya, JapanPort of Nagoya Public Aquarium, Nagoya, JapanGolden Honu Services of Oceania, Newport, OR, United StatesHawaii Preparatory Academy, Kamuela, HI, United StatesUsa Marine Biological Institute, Kochi University, Tosa, Kochi, JapanDoerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesSouthwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), La Jolla, CA, United StatesUsa Marine Biological Institute, Kochi University, Tosa, Kochi, Japan0Marine Biology Program, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United StatesThe North Pacific Transition Zone (NPTZ) is known as a global marine hotspot for many endangered and commercially significant highly mobile marine species. In the last few decades, the region has undergone unprecedented physical and biological transformations in response to climate variability and change. Although it is anticipated that many highly mobile species will need to adapt and shift their distributions, current predictions have relied on short-term data sets or modeled simulations. This has left a critical gap in our understanding of long-term (decadal or longer) change and species’ responses within the NPTZ. Here, we integrate nearly 3 decades of satellite tracking data from a climate sentinel, the juvenile North Pacific loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), with concurrent observations of sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll-a concentrations to examine higher trophic level response to climate-induced changes within the eastern bounds of the NPTZ. Between 1997–2024, the NPTZ has warmed by 1.6°C and experienced an approximately 19% decline in mean surface chlorophyll-a concentration, a proxy for reduced productivity, resulting in a 28% (1.65 million km2) increase in total oligotrophic habitat in the eastern NPTZ. Over the same period, the average latitude of loggerhead sea turtle foraging habitat in the NPTZ has shifted northwards by 450–600 km. This represents a distributional shift rate of 116–200km/decade. In most years both the southern and northern range limits for the loggerhead turtle have shifted northward in tandem, indicating a habitat range shift rather than a range expansion. Our findings reveal significant physical and biological change to the NPTZ over the last quarter century and the first empirical evidence illustrating the substantial spatial response of a highly mobile megafaunal species. As the NPTZ continues to become more oligotrophic, these insights can provide vital information for dynamic conservation and management strategies within this critically important ecosystem.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1513162/fullNorth Pacific Oceanloggerhead sea turtlesea surface temperaturehabitatclimate changeTransition Zone |
| spellingShingle | Dana K. Briscoe Dana K. Briscoe Larry B. Crowder George H. Balazs Jeffrey A. Seminoff Alberto Abreu Catherine A. Lee Hing Masanori Kurita Masanori Mori Denise M. Parker Marc R. Rice Tomomi Saito Bianca S. Santos Calandra N. Turner Tomaszewicz Noah Yamaguchi Jeffrey J. Polovina Multi-decade northward shift of loggerhead sea turtle pelagic habitat as the eastern North Pacific Transition Zone becomes more oligotrophic Frontiers in Marine Science North Pacific Ocean loggerhead sea turtle sea surface temperature habitat climate change Transition Zone |
| title | Multi-decade northward shift of loggerhead sea turtle pelagic habitat as the eastern North Pacific Transition Zone becomes more oligotrophic |
| title_full | Multi-decade northward shift of loggerhead sea turtle pelagic habitat as the eastern North Pacific Transition Zone becomes more oligotrophic |
| title_fullStr | Multi-decade northward shift of loggerhead sea turtle pelagic habitat as the eastern North Pacific Transition Zone becomes more oligotrophic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Multi-decade northward shift of loggerhead sea turtle pelagic habitat as the eastern North Pacific Transition Zone becomes more oligotrophic |
| title_short | Multi-decade northward shift of loggerhead sea turtle pelagic habitat as the eastern North Pacific Transition Zone becomes more oligotrophic |
| title_sort | multi decade northward shift of loggerhead sea turtle pelagic habitat as the eastern north pacific transition zone becomes more oligotrophic |
| topic | North Pacific Ocean loggerhead sea turtle sea surface temperature habitat climate change Transition Zone |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1513162/full |
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