Oral Presentation Australian Society for Fish Biology Conference 2024

Environmental drivers of abundance of key Australian shark and ray species (111291)

Leanne Currey-Randall 1 , Ben Radford 2 , Matt Rees 3 , Charlie Huveneers 4 , Daniel Ierodiaconou 5 , Michelle Heupel 6 , Conrad Speed 2 , Jordan Goetze 7 , Mike Travers 8 , Sasha Whitmarsh 5 , Mike Cappo 1 , Mark Meekan 9 , Nathan Knott 3
  1. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Qld, Australia
  2. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Crawley, WA, Australia
  3. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Huskisson, NSW, Australia
  4. Southern Shark Ecology Group, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  5. Deakin University, Warrnambool, NSW, Australia
  6. Integrated Marine Observing System, Hobart, Tas, Australia
  7. Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, WA
  8. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Hillarys, WA, Australia
  9. University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia

Only through understanding the preferences and requirements of species can we predict and interpret the influence of climate change and human activities. Shark and ray populations are threatened worldwide, and their distributions and movements have been linked to a range of environmental parameters, from habitat type (e.g. coral reefs) to water column parameters (e.g. temperature and salinity), and seasonal changes. Thus, environmental conditions are important to any explanation of elasmobranch distribution and habitat use. We used >27,500 baited remote underwater video station (BRUVS) deployments collected Australia-wide between 2000 and 2024, collaboratively compiled into GlobalArchive (globalarchive.org), an online centralised repository. Relative abundances (MaxN) of ten coastal shark and ray species, common across a variety of environmental conditions and habitat types, were analysed with environmental and spatial covariates. Although data gaps exist across the vast Australian coastline, we identified important drivers affecting the continental-scale patterns of abundance of these species, which can be used to predict potential areas of occurrence and additional distribution hotspots. Redistribution or changes in range for these key Australian shark and ray species may emerge as climate change continues to alter marine systems.