Salinity drives the distribution of a top-order predator, the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), in an inverse estuary.

ABSTRACT: Understanding how dynamic environmental processes influence the distributions of top-order predators is fundamental to assess top-down effects on ecosystems. Tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) are a large top-predator that can trigger trophic cascades and structure communities. However, the dynamic physical processes that influence the distributions of these animals in coastal systems are largely unknown. Here, we assess the environmental processes influencing tiger shark movements in the inverse estuary of Shark Bay, Western Australia, a shallow coastal embayment with salinities consistently above that of the adjacent ocean. We applied Bayesian generalized linear mixed-effects models to generate dynamic predictions of suitable habitat for tiger sharks in this region. These habitats were ass

SUBMITTER: D'Antonio B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11937537 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature