A new piece of research by a team from the University of Vienna has found that sharks and rays are gravely threatened by habitat destruction and overfishing.
The team found that these majestic creatures which have inhabited our oceans for millions of years are now under stress.
The study found that while some environmental changes such as warmer waters in the shallows has a positive effect on sharks, rising coastal waters that are warmer offer sharks a more stable habitat year round, which can be a boon. However, these are also then subject the negative effects of overfishing by humans.
On the other hand, other effects — like elevated levels of CO2 in the ocean — are clearly having a negative impact on the global population of sharks and rays.
According to the study’s lead researcher paleobiologist Manuel Staggl from the University of Vienna:
“The current rapid climate warming could also have a negative impact on this group of animals – in an international study based on earlier climate changes, we have now looked at how exactly this might impact rays and sharks. We cannot yet fully explain the exact mechanisms behind the negative effect of CO2 on the biodiversity of sharks and rays. The environment is currently changing particularly quickly — unfortunately probably too quickly for the animals and their ecosystems.”
While University of Vienna professor of paleobiology Jürgen Kriwet added:
“We wanted to understand which environmental factors influence the diversity of sharks and rays in order to be able to develop possible future scenarios with regard to current global warming. Because without the top predators, the ecosystems would collapse. By protecting sharks and rays, we are investing directly in the health of our oceans and therefore also in the people and industries that benefit from these ecosystems.”
You can find the original research here.
(Featured image credit: Manuel Staggl)
