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Migratory species including sea turtles, marine mammals, fish and seabirds (like these magnificent frigatebirds) can travel thousands of kilometres each year, often through ocean habitats at severe risk from human threats including overfishing, pollution, marine debris and climate change.

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The cumulative impact of these stressors can threaten populations of marine species and are often spread across a number of global jurisdictions.

For example, Cory's shearwaters nesting in the Western North Atlantic migrate to overwinter off the coast of Brazil and South Africa, connecting the jurisdictions of more than 30 countries.

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“Migratory species connect economies and ecosystems in a way that requires a shared approach to governance and a global perspective on risk and impact.”

Migratory Connectivity

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How stressors impact individuals at each crucial life history stage, and how these effects may scale up to effects on population abundance and distribution, and species persistence, is a function of migratory connectivity, the geographic linking of individuals and populations throughout their migratory cycles.

Understanding how a population is connected, how connectivity influences demographic rates, and designing conservation and management measures appropriate for the level of risk associated with various degrees of connectivity, are all critical to the conservation and sustainable use of migratory species.

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Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MiCO) is a consortium of over 50 instutions developing an extensive open-access system to connect policy, management and industry with actionable knowledge on migratory connectivity to inform conservation and sustainable use of migratory species.  MiCO further seeks to reimagine the role of data contributors and improve attribution tracking to provide incentives and protection for researchers.

The Applied Marine Biogeography Lab leads MiCO and is always looking for new partners (inside and outside academia) and students to generate the knowledge that will drive this step change in marine conservation.

This work is primarily supported via a grant to the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI) from the International Climate Initiative of The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

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Related Publications

2022

Network analysis of sea turtle movements and connectivity: a tool for conservation prioritization

Kot, C.Y., S. Akesson, J. Alfaro-Shigueto, D. F. Amorocho Llanos, M. Antonopoulou, et al.

Divers. Distrib

2021

Tracking data and the conservation of the High Seas: opportunities and challenges

Davies, T.E., A.P.B. Carneiro, B. Campos, C. Hazin, D.C. Dunn, et al.

Biol. Cons.

2021

A standardisation framework for bio-logging data to advance ecological research and conservation

Sequeira, A.M.M., C. Blight, S. Bograd, C. Braun, D. Costa, et al.

Methods Ecol. Evol.

2020

Considering Indigenous Peoples and local communities in governance of the global ocean commons

Vierros, M., A.-L. Harrison, M. Sloat, G. Ortu�o Crespo, J. Moore, D.C. Dunn, et al.

Mar. Policy

2019

The importance of migratory connectivity to global ocean policy

Dunn, D.C., Harrison, A.-L., Curtice, C., Appeltans, W., Bailey, H., et al.

Proc. R. Soc. B

2019

Translating marine animal tracking data into conservation policy and management

Hays, G.C., Bailey, H., Bograd, S.J., Bowen, W.D., Campagna, C., et al.

Trends Ecol. Evol.

2008

Modeling loggerhead turtle movement in the Mediterranean: importance of body size and oceanography.

Eckert, S. a, Moore, J.E., Dunn, D.C., van Buiten, R.S., Eckert, K.L., et al.

Ecol. Appl.

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