Key Questions in Marine Megafauna Movement Ecology

Trends Ecol Evol. 2016 Jun;31(6):463-475. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2016.02.015. Epub 2016 Mar 12.

Abstract

It is a golden age for animal movement studies and so an opportune time to assess priorities for future work. We assembled 40 experts to identify key questions in this field, focussing on marine megafauna, which include a broad range of birds, mammals, reptiles, and fish. Research on these taxa has both underpinned many of the recent technical developments and led to fundamental discoveries in the field. We show that the questions have broad applicability to other taxa, including terrestrial animals, flying insects, and swimming invertebrates, and, as such, this exercise provides a useful roadmap for targeted deployments and data syntheses that should advance the field of movement ecology.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Birds
  • Ecology*
  • Mammals
  • Marine Biology*
  • Reptiles