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Published Online July 28, 2005
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1113399

Reports

Submitted on April 11, 2005
Accepted on June 21, 2005

Global Patterns of Predator Diversity in the Open Oceans

Boris Worm 1*, Marcel Sandow 2, Andreas Oschlies 3, Heike K. Lotze 1, Ransom A. Myers 4

1 Biology Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 4J1; Leibniz Institute for Marine Science, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
2 Leibniz Institute for Marine Science, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
3 Leibniz Institute for Marine Science, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany; National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK.
4 Biology Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 4J1.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Boris Worm , E-mail: bworm{at}dal.ca

The open oceans comprise most of the biosphere, yet patterns and trends of species diversity are enigmatic. Here, we derive worldwide patterns of tuna and billfish diversity over the past 50 years, revealing distinct subtropical "hotspots" that appeared to hold generally for other predators and zooplankton. Diversity was positively correlated with thermal fronts and dissolved oxygen and a nonlinear function of temperature (~25°C optimum). Diversity declined between 10% and 50% in all oceans, a trend that coincided with increased fishing pressure, superimposed on strong El Niño Southern Oscillation-driven variability across the Pacific. We conclude that predator diversity shows a predictable yet eroding pattern signaling ecosystem-wide changes linked to climate and fishing.


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)