Environmental and anthropogenic effects impact species abundance, density and distribution

在阿森松岛调查和比较两种沿海-远洋鲨鱼的空间生态：阿森松岛是一个偏远的英国海外领土，被世界上最大的海洋保护区（MPA）之一包围。自2017年以来，鲨鱼在阿森松岛受到法律保护。然而，最近，加拉帕戈斯群岛的鲨鱼（Carcharhinus galapagensis）越来越规律地、无法解释地进入浅海、沿海栖息地，这与渔民和其他娱乐海洋使用者产生了重大冲突，威胁到对海洋保护区的支持。监督小组的初步工作已经确定了阿森松岛周围的几个明显的热点，这些热点经常支持加拉帕戈斯群岛和丝鲨的混合物种“超级鱼群”。然而，这些地点的重要性和鲨鱼分布时间变化的驱动因素——包括加拉帕戈斯群岛鲨鱼的聚集行为和周期性近岸运动——目前尚不清楚。解决这一知识差距已被确定为阿森松岛海洋保护区研究战略的优先事项。

Investigating and comparing the spatial ecology of two coastal-pelagic shark species at Ascension Island: a remote UK Overseas Territory that is surrounded by one of the world's largest marine protected areas (MPA). Sharks have been legally protected at Ascension Island since 2017. Recently, however, increasingly regular, and unexplained movements of Galapagos sharks (Carcharhinus galapagensis) into shallow, coastal habitats have created significant conflicts with fishers and other recreational ocean users which threaten to undermine support for the MPA. Preliminary work by the supervisory team has identified several apparent hotspots around Ascension Island that frequently support mixed species 'super schools' of Galapagos and silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis). However, the significance of these sites and drivers of temporal variability in shark distributions - including aggregating behaviours and periodic inshore movements of Galapagos sharks - are currently unknown. Addressing this knowledge gap has been identified as a priority in the Ascension Island MPA Research Strategy.