According to a new study by the University of Queensland, the internal energy flow of large sharks and rays could be essential to surviving climate change.
University of Queensland Ph.D. candidate Christopher Lawson found that bioenergetics of sharks and rays will determine the animals ability to adjust to temperature changes in historical habitats
“Shark and rays play crucial roles as top predators in many marine ecosystems, but are currently among the most threatened vertebrates,” Lawson said. “Based on historical extinctions, it looks like they’re highly susceptible to future environmental changes, so a changing climate could severely affect their populations. These animals are ectotherms—or cold-blooded—so their body temperature is reliant on the temperature of their environment.
“Warming oceans mean their metabolic rate increases with temperature, and they’ll have to consume more food otherwise their growth or reproductive rate could suffer.”
Using technological advances in data loggers and tags that can be physically attached to the animals from a variety of datasets collected over the last five years found that climate change is compounding the issues that these sharks already face.
“Climate change is also changing the available habitat for these animals, with some parts of the ocean becoming too warm or having reduced oxygen levels,” he said.
“And many prey species are shifting their distribution—meaning that while large sharks and rays may need to consume more food, there might be less of it available.
“Ultimately this can limit reproduction levels and we may see a decline in many of these already-threatened species.”
