Global tracking of marine megafauna space use reveals how to achieve conservation targets

Science
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Abstract

The recent Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) sets ambitious goals but no clear pathway for how zero loss of important biodiversity areas and halting human-induced extinction of threatened species will be achieved. We assembled a multi-taxa tracking dataset (11 million geopositions from 15,845 tracked individuals across 121 species) to provide a global assessment of space use of highly mobile marine megafauna, showing that 63% of the area that they cover is used 80% of the time as important migratory corridors or residence areas. The GBF 30% threshold (Target 3) will be insufficient for marine megafauna’s effective conservation, leaving important areas exposed to major anthropogenic threats. Coupling area protection with mitigation strategies (e.g., fishing regulation, wildlife-traffic separation) will be essential to reach international goals and conserve biodiversity.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Global tracking of marine megafauna space use reveals how to achieve conservation targets
Series title Science
DOI 10.1126/science.adl0239
Volume 388
Issue 6751
Publication Date June 05, 2025
Year Published 2025
Language English
Publisher American Association for the Advancement of Science
Contributing office(s) Alaska Science Center Ecosystems
Description 12 p.
First page 1086
Last page 1097
Additional publication details