Vulnerability of marine megafauna to global at‐sea anthropogenic threats

Marine megafauna species are affected by a wide range of anthropogenic threats. To evaluate the risk of such threats, species' vulnerability to each threat must first be determined. We build on the existing threats classification scheme and ranking system of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species by assessing the vulnerability of 256 marine megafauna species to 23 at-sea threats. The threats we considered included individual fishing gear types, climate-change-related subthreats not previously assessed, and threats associated with coastal impacts and maritime disturbances. Our ratings resulted in 70 species having high vulnerability (v > 0.778 out of 1) to at least 1 threat, primarily drifting longlines, temperature extremes, or fixed gear. These 3 threats were also considered to have the most severe effects (i.e., steepest population declines). Overall, temperature extremes and plastics and other solid waste were rated as affecting the largest proportion of populations. Penguins, pinnipeds, and polar bears had the highest vulnerability to temperature extremes. Bony fishes had the highest vulnerability to drifting longlines and plastics and other solid waste; pelagic cetaceans to 4 maritime disturbance threats; elasmobranchs to 5 fishing threats; and flying birds to drifting longlines and 2 maritime disturbance threats. Sirenians and turtles had the highest vulnerability to at least one threat from all 4 categories. Despite not necessarily having severe effects for most taxonomic groups, temperature extremes were rated among the top threats for all taxa except bony fishes. The vulnerability scores we provide are an important first step in estimating the risk of threats to marine megafauna. Importantly, they help differentiate scope from severity, which is key to identifying threats that should be prioritized for mitigation.

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Journal
Conservation Biology
Published
2025-11-14
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70147
Primary Topic
Marine animal studies overview
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article

Vulnerability of marine megafauna to global at‐sea anthropogenic threats

Hannah J. Calich, Steffen Oppel, Martin C. Arostegui, Filipe R. Ceia et al.
Conservation Biology
Marine animal studies overview
article

Vulnerability of marine megafauna to global at‐sea anthropogenic threats

Hannah J. Calich, Steffen Oppel, Martin C. Arostegui, Filipe R. Ceia, Matthew J. Witt, Gail Schofield, Laura Prosdocimi, Nathan Pacoureau, Vikash Tatayah, Mario Espinoza, Nuno Queiroz, Clive R. McMahon, Neil Hammerschlag, Jeffrey C. Mangel, Mark Andrew Hindell, David Jiménez‐Alvarado, Annette L. Fayet, Laura Feyrer, Philip N. Trathan, Amy F. Smoothey, Brendan J. Godley, Victoria González Carman, Tânia Pipa, Gregory B. Skomal, Kelly Waples, Gemma Carroll, Kevin Ruhomaun, Danielle E. Haulsee, Marisa Vedor, Kazuoki Ueda, Antje Steinfurth, Scott D. Whiting, R. Keller Kopf, André Chiaradia, Susanne Åkesson, Nicholas Riddoch, Elliott L. Hazen, Jorge Fontes, Evert Mul, Mark L. Mallory, Lucy M. Arrowsmith, Solène Derville, Graeme C. Hays, Marcus Sheaves, Robert Harcourt, Isabel Cristina Ávila, Hilário Murua, Peter H. Dutton, Lauren J. Waller, Alastair M. M. Baylis, Scott A. Shaffer, Stephanie Brodie, Jesús Tomás, Nigel E. Hussey, Jérémy J. Kiszka, Samantha Reynolds, Lyn G. Irvine, Randall S. Wells, Katherine L. Mansfield, Leandro Bugoni, Eduardo Jorge Belda, Joanna Alfaro‐Shigueto, Alison A. Kock, Rima W. Jabado, Katie R. N. Florko, Oliver J. D. Jewell, Héctor M. Guzmán, W. James Grecian, Simon J. Pierce, Ursula Ellenberg, Kylie L. Scales, Enric Cortés, David J. Yurkowski, Vı́ctor M. Eguı́luz, Damien Chevallier, Jaime A. Ramos, Leila Fouda, Lorien Pichegru, Kara L. Dodge, Daniel P. Costa, Gonzalo Araújo, Michelle VanCompernolle, Luis A. Hückstädt, Holly C. Raudino, Sarah Wanless, Mark G. Meekan, Philippine Chambault, Simon H. Elwen, Pablo García Borboroglu, Stella Villegas‐Amtmann, Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, Antonin Blaison, James R. Robbins, Mariana M. P. B. Fuentes, Rosie S. Williams, Erich Hoyt, Thomas Mattern, Ruth H. Leeney, Erpur Snær Hansen, Enrico Gennari, Guido J. Parra, B. Louise Chilvers, Asunción Borrell, Alistair D. M. Dove, Elitza S. Germanov, Steven E. Campana, Thomas K. Doyle, Helene Marsh, Yannis P. Papastamatiou, Esteban Frere, C. J. Feare, Louise Emmerson, Dunsin Abimbola Bolaji, Kristin L. Laidre, Megan A. Cimino, Christoph A. Rohner, John L. Quinn, Dawn Barlow, David N. Wiley, Daniel Mauricio Palacios, S. Hoyt Peckham, Benjamín Morales‐Vela, Christine L. Dudgeon, David March, Mark Jessopp, Florian Orgeret, Akinori Takahashi, Tomonari Akamatsu, Audrey Jaeger, G. J. Greg Hofmeyr, Jessica Pearce, Bruno Díaz López, Angela Recalde‐Salas, Alexandra Loveridge, Federico G. Riet‐Sapriza, Fritz Trillmich, Sophie Bestley, Héctor Barrios–Garrido, Ryan R Reisinger, Elpis J. Chávez, Xavier Hoenner, Øystein Wiig, Meike Scheidat, Álex Aguilar, Yuri Niella, Caroline R. Weir, Ana M. M. Sequeira, Miles J. G. Parsons, Elizabeth E. Hieb, Séverine Methion, Lars Boehme, Joshua D. Stewart, Joan Giménez, Jesse E. M. Cochran, Lars Bejder, Tim Collins, Nicole Esteban, Patrick M. Jagielski, James Marcus Drymon, Tycho Anker‐Nilssen, Fernanda de Oliveira Lana, Sara M. Maxwell, Mark E. Bond, Stephen D. Petersen, Frédèric Vandeperre, Julie N. Oswald, Michael L. Berumen, Timothy D. White, Alen Soldo, Airam Rodríguez, Susana Cárdenas‐Alayza, David Jacoby, Bruno C. L. Macena, Charitha Pattiaratchi, Anthony James Richardson, Katsufumi Sato, André S. Afonso, Kenady Wilson, Marie Auger‐Méthé, Juliet Morris, Muhammad Shoaib Kiani, M. P. Harris, Gill Braulik, Briana Abrahms, Eva Meyers, Sam Thalmann, Candice Michelot, Rui Prieto, Emily J. Southall, Joanna Barker, David J. Curnick, Salvatore Cerchio, Brendan D. Shea, Simon Goldsworthy, Cara Miller, Vítor H. Paiva, Kwang‐Ming Liu, Javier A. Arata, Tilen Genov, Jefferson T. Hinke, Natalia Priscila Alves Bezerra, Frédéric Bailleul, Gonzalo Mucientes, Alice I. Mackay, Ruth H. Carmichael, Simone Panigada, Akiko Kato, Giovanni Bearzi, Rebecca L. McGuire, P J Nico de Bruyn, Steven J. Bograd, George L. Shillinger, Lachlan McLeay, Mark Hamann, Peter L. Boveng, Chandra Salgado Kent, Mia Wege, Cortney A. Watt, Christopher G. Lowe, Pierre A. Pistorius, Maria P. Dias, Salvador J. Jorgensen, Reyd A. Smith, Caterina Maria Fortuna, Steven H. Ferguson, Lucy W. Keith‐Diagne, Pauline Gauffier, Phil J. Bouchet, Peter M. Kyne, Eduardo Cuevas, Asha de Vos, Natalie Wildermann, Haritz Arrizabalaga, Tracey L. Rogers, Takahiro Shimada, Daniela Rojas‐Cañizales, Heather J. Lynch, David P. Robinson, Andrea D. Marshall, Bonnie J. Holmes, Richard D. Reina, Leigh G. Torres, Sabrina Fossette, Kátya G. Abrantes, Camrin D. Braun, Laura Shearer, Marcela Libertelli, Gordon D. Hastie, Andrews Agyekumhene, Scott R. Benson, Malcolm A. C. Nicoll, Austin J. Gallagher, Brian S. Fadely, Richard B. Sherley, Ralph Eric Thijl Vanstreels, Jean-Baptiste Thiébot, Mads Peter Heide‐Jørgensen, Carl S. Cloyed, Carlos Manuel Duarte, David Sims, Jorge Rodríguez, Peter Dann, Milagros López Mendilaharsu, Edy Setyawan, Freya C. Womersley, J. Jacob Levenson, Charlie P.M. Huveneers, Gianna Minton, Matt Waller, Paul J. Wensveen, Alexandros A. Karamanlidis, Carlos Bustamante, Alexis L. Levengood, Sarah A. Marley, Luciana C. Ferreira, Patrícia Charvet, D. Bruce Stewart, Riley A. Pollom, Thomas A. Clay, Carey E. Kuhn, Enrico Pirotta, Marianne Marcoux, Brittany Finucci, Bethany L. Clark, Nyimale G. Alawa, Mónica A. Silva, Olivia Lee, Jie Zhang, Ellie Owen, Robert C. Anderson, Jessica L. Williams, Matt Carter, Christopher R. Clarke, Fabrizio Serena, Claire Garrigue, Lance K. B. Jordan, Alan F. Rees, Matthew H. Godfrey, Jeff W. Higdon, Natasha J. Gownaris, Mark A. Lander, Matthew Gollock, Donna L. Patterson‐Fraser, Klemens Pütz, Taylor K. Chapple, Matthieu Le Corre, Edem A. Eniang, Benjamin Kahn, Adam Barnett, Jeffry Madrigal‐Mesén
article en

Abstract

Marine megafauna species are affected by a wide range of anthropogenic threats. To evaluate the risk of such threats, species' vulnerability to each threat must first be determined. We build on the existing threats classification scheme and ranking system of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species by assessing the vulnerability of 256 marine megafauna species to 23 at-sea threats. The threats we considered included individual fishing gear types, climate-change-related subthreats not previously assessed, and threats associated with coastal impacts and maritime disturbances. Our ratings resulted in 70 species having high vulnerability (v > 0.778 out of 1) to at least 1 threat, primarily drifting longlines, temperature extremes, or fixed gear. These 3 threats were also considered to have the most severe effects (i.e., steepest population declines). Overall, temperature extremes and plastics and other solid waste were rated as affecting the largest proportion of populations. Penguins, pinnipeds, and polar bears had the highest vulnerability to temperature extremes. Bony fishes had the highest vulnerability to drifting longlines and plastics and other solid waste; pelagic cetaceans to 4 maritime disturbance threats; elasmobranchs to 5 fishing threats; and flying birds to drifting longlines and 2 maritime disturbance threats. Sirenians and turtles had the highest vulnerability to at least one threat from all 4 categories. Despite not necessarily having severe effects for most taxonomic groups, temperature extremes were rated among the top threats for all taxa except bony fishes. The vulnerability scores we provide are an important first step in estimating the risk of threats to marine megafauna. Importantly, they help differentiate scope from severity, which is key to identifying threats that should be prioritized for mitigation.

Conservation BiologyVol. 40(1)
University College Dublin (IE), University of New Caledonia (NC), Andrews University (US), Florida State University (US), University of Central Florida (US), NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (US), University of New Brunswick (CA), Ikerbasque (ES), Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (GB), Universidade dos Açores (PT), University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US), Australian National University (AU), Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ES), Edith Cowan University (AU), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (BR), International Union for Conservation of Nature (Bangladesh) (BD), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (PA), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (AU), Sea Turtle Conservancy (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Universidad de Antofagasta (CL), University of Tasmania (AU), Environmental Defense Fund (US), Dalhousie University (CA), SeaWorld Entertainment (US), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (BR), 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Marine animal studies overview
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