A rare oasis effect for forage fauna in oceanic eddies at the global scale

Aurore Receveur (), Christophe Menkes, Matthieu Lengaigne, Alejandro Ariza, Arnaud Bertrand, Cyril Dutheil, Sophie Cravatte, Valérie Allain, Laure Barbin, Anne Lebourges-Dhaussy, Patrick Lehodey and Simon Nicol
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Aurore Receveur: The Pacific Community
Christophe Menkes: Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie
Matthieu Lengaigne: Université Montpellier, IRD, Ifremer, CNRS
Alejandro Ariza: Université Montpellier, IRD, Ifremer, CNRS
Arnaud Bertrand: Université Montpellier, IRD, Ifremer, CNRS
Cyril Dutheil: Université Montpellier, IRD, Ifremer, CNRS
Sophie Cravatte: Université de Toulouse, LEGOS (IRD, CNES, CNRS, UT3)
Valérie Allain: The Pacific Community
Laure Barbin: The Pacific Community
Anne Lebourges-Dhaussy: Univ. Brest, CNRS, Ifremer; BP70
Patrick Lehodey: The Pacific Community
Simon Nicol: The Pacific Community

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Oceanic eddies are recognized as pivotal components in marine ecosystems, believed to concentrate a wide range of marine life spanning from phytoplankton to top predators. Previous studies have posited that marine predators are drawn to these eddies due to an aggregation of their forage fauna. In this study, we examine the response of forage fauna, detected by shipboard acoustics, across a broad sample of a thousand eddies across the world’s oceans. While our findings show an impact of eddies on surface temperatures and phytoplankton in most cases, they reveal that only a minority (13%) exhibit significant effects on forage fauna, with only 6% demonstrating an oasis effect. We also show that an oasis effect can occur both in anticyclonic and cyclonic eddies, and that the few high-impact eddies are marked by high eddy amplitude and strong water-mass-trapping. Our study underscores the nuanced and complex nature of the aggregating role of oceanic eddies, highlighting the need for further research to elucidate how these structures attract marine predators.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49113-3

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