Metabolic asymmetry and the global diversity of marine predators.

1. Science. 2019 Jan 25;363(6425):eaat4220. doi: 10.1126/science.aat4220. Epub 2019 Jan 24.

Metabolic asymmetry and the global diversity of marine predators.

Grady JM(1)(2), Maitner BS(3), Winter AS(4), Kaschner K(5), Tittensor DP(6)(7), Record S(2), Smith FA(8), Wilson AM(9), Dell AI(10)(11), Zarnetske PL(12), Wearing HJ(8)(13), Alfaro B(8), Brown JH(8).

Author information: (1)Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA. jgradym@gmail.com. (2)Department of Biology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, USA. (3)Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. (4)Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA. (5)Department of Biometry and Environmental Systems Analysis, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. (6)Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. (7)UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK. (8)Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA. (9)Department of Geography, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA. (10)National Great Rivers Research and Education Center, East Alton, IL, USA. (11)Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA. (12)Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA. (13)Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.

Comment in Science. 2019 Jan 25;363(6425):338-339. doi: 10.1126/science.aav9156.

Species richness of marine mammals and birds is highest in cold, temperate seas-a conspicuous exception to the general latitudinal gradient of decreasing diversity from the tropics to the poles. We compiled a comprehensive dataset for 998 species of sharks, fish, reptiles, mammals, and birds to identify and quantify inverse latitudinal gradients in diversity, and derived a theory to explain these patterns. We found that richness, phylogenetic diversity, and abundance of marine predators diverge systematically with thermoregulatory strategy and water temperature, reflecting metabolic differences between endotherms and ectotherms that drive trophic and competitive interactions. Spatial patterns of foraging support theoretical predictions, with total prey consumption by mammals increasing by a factor of 80 from the equator to the poles after controlling for productivity.

Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aat4220 PMID: 30679341 [Indexed for MEDLINE]