Trade-offs between risks of predation and starvation in larvae make the shelf break an optimal spawning location for Atlantic bluefin tuna. (22nd June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shropshire, Taylor A; Morey, Steven L; Chassignet, Eric P; Karnauskas, Mandy; Coles, Victoria J; Malca, Estrella; Laiz-Carrión, Raúl; Fiksen, Øyvind; Reglero, Patricia; Shiroza, Akihiro; Quintanilla Hervas, José M; Gerard, Trika; Lamkin, John T; Stukel, Michael R
• Is Part Of: Journal of plankton research. Volume 44:Number 5(2022)
• Page Start: 782
• Page End: 798
• Publication Date: 2021-06-22
• Subjects: larval mortality -- starvation -- predation -- individual-based model -- physical–biogoechemical model -- critical period -- Atlantic bluefin tuna -- Thunnus thynnus; Plankton -- Periodicals; 578.776
• DOI: 10.1093/plankt/fbab041
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0142-7873

Abstract

Abstract: Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABT) ( Thunnus thynnus ) travel long distances to spawn in oligotrophic regions of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) which suggests these regions offer some unique benefit to offspring survival. To better understand how larval survival varies within the GoM a spatially explicit, Lagrangian, individual-based model was developed that simulates dispersal and mortality of ABT early life stages within realistic predator and prey fields during the spawning periods from 1993 to 2012. The model estimates that starvation is the largest cumulative source of mortality associated with an early critical period. However, elevated predation on older larvae is identified as the main factor limiting survival to late postflexion. As a result, first-feeding larvae have higher survival on the shelf where food is abundant, whereas older larvae have higher survival in the open ocean with fewer predators, making the shelf break an optimal spawning area. The modeling framework developed in this study explicitly simulates both physical and biological factors that impact larval survival and hence could be used to support ecosystem based management efforts for ABT under current and future climate conditions.