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There is a growing debate about the proper age at which teens should be given permission to own a personal smartphone. While experts in different disciplines provide parents and educators with conflicting guidelines, the age of first smartphone acquisition is constantly decreasing and there is still limited evidence on the impact of anticipating the age of access on learning outcomes. Drawing on two-wave longitudinal data collected on a sample of 1672 students in 2013 (at grade 5) and 2016 (at grade 8), this study evaluates whether obtaining the first personal smartphone at 10 or 11 years old, during the transition to lower secondary school (early owning), affected their language proficiency trends compared to receiving it from the age of 12 onwards (late owning). Results indicate an overall null effect of smartphone early owning on adolescents’ language proficiency trajectories, while a negative effect is found on those who were already heavy screen media users before receiving the device.

Media Effects: A Narrative Perspective (Key Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies) is written by an eminent scholar in media effects research, an authoritative representative of cultivation theory, who looks back and offers an original overall view of the field. In doing this, James Shanahan uses a “narrative” perspective as a unifying lens to link different subfields, results, and disciplines that have been investigated in media effects research for almost a century. Using this construct, Shanahan takes a stand on the basic research questions of the field: What are the effects of the media? Are these effects large or small? Do digital media render traditional effects theory obsolete? What remains unknown?

To date, at least 2.41 billion people with Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are in need of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation care through innovative technologies is the ideal candidate to reach all people with NCDs in need. To obtain these innovative solutions available in the public health system calls for a rigorous multidimensional evaluation that, with an articulated approach, is carried out through the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) methodology. In this context, the aim of the present paper is to illustrate how the Smart&TouchID (STID) model addresses the need to incorporate patients’ evaluations into a multidimensional technology assessment framework by presenting a feasibility study of model application with regard to the rehabilitation experiences of people living with NCDs. After sketching out the STID model’s vision and operational process, preliminary evidence on the experiences and attitudes of patients and citizens on rehabilitation care will be described and discussed, showing how they operate, enabling the co-design of technological solutions with a multi-stakeholder approach. Implications for public health are discussed including the view on the STID model as a tool to be integrated into public health governance strategies aimed at tuning the agenda-setting of innovation in rehabilitation care through a participatory methodology.

Trait-based approaches that complement taxonomy-based studies have increased in popularity among the scientific community over the last decades. The collection of biological and ecological characteristics of species (i.e., traits) provides insight into species and ecosystem vulnerability to environmental and anthropogenic changes, as well as ecosystem functioning. Here, we present the FUN Azores trait database, describe our approach, evaluate its scope, compare it to other marine trait databases, and explore the spatial distribution of its traits with “functional maps.” While most of the available trait databases to date contain essential information to understand the functional diversity of a taxonomic or functional group, our ecosystem-based approach provides a comprehensive assessment of diverse fauna (i.e., meio-, macro-, and megafauna) from benthic and pelagic environments in the Azores Marine Park; including ridges, seamounts, hydrothermal vents, and the overlying water column. We used a collaborative approach involving 30 researchers with different expertise to develop the FUN Azores database, which contains compiled data on 14 traits representing morphological, behavioral, and life history characteristics for 1,210 species across 10 phyla. The “functional maps” show a distinct distribution of the two most common size classes, suggesting different communities with different functionalities. The following traits had the best scoring coverage (i.e., >95% of the species scored): maximum body size, body form, skeleton material, feeding structure, motility, environmental position, substratum affinity, distribution, and depth range; while traits related to species behavior (e.g., sociability or aggregation tendencies) and life history (e.g., developmental mechanism) had lower scoring coverage, highlighting the need for further research to fill these knowledge gaps. We found a larger number of species in the benthic compared to the pelagic environment and differing

In recent years a public debate has been growing around mobile media and young people, as research has found adverse relationships between the intensive use of smartphones and well-being in this age group. However, there is still a lack of structured interventions targeting teachers and schools on the issue. This paper shows the results of a pre-registered cluster randomised controlled trial evaluating the impact of a media education intervention focusing on screen time management and the conscious use of mobile devices. The impact of a teacher training course is assessed on their 10th grade students (789 treated, 2572 controls), looking at their smartphone use, digital skills, and subjective well-being. Post-intervention differences, controlling for baseline measures at wave 1, show a moderate but significant decrease in smartphone pervasiveness and problematic use among treated students, with girls displaying greater beneficial effects than boys on withdrawal symptoms. Girls also show an increase in subjective well-being. No effect is found on the level of digital skills measured with an ad-hoc test. These results highlight that media education interventions focused on screen time management and content-related digital skills can be effectively incorporated into daily teaching and are relevant for students’ well-being. The paper also offers practical indications to develop effective media education interventions in a constant connectivity environment.

Trait-based approaches that complement taxonomic-based studies have increased in popularity among the scientific community over the last decades. The collection of biological and ecological characteristics of species (i.e., traits) provides insight into species and ecosystem vulnerability to environmental and anthropogenic changes, as well as ecosystem functioning. While most of the available trait databases to date contain essential information to understand the functional diversity of a taxonomic group or functional group based on size, the FUN Azores trait database has an ecosystem-based approach that provides a comprehensive assessment of diverse fauna (meio-, macro-, and megafauna) from benthic and pelagic environments in the Azores Marine Park; including ridges, seamounts, and hydrothermal vents. We used a collaborative approach involving 30 researchers with different expertise to develop the trait database; which contains compiled data on 14 traits representing morphological, behavioral, and life history characteristics for 1210 species, across 10 phyla

An analysis of the reasons why it is better to wait untl eighth grade to give a kid a smartphone connected to Internet, a review of projects in this field in the Us and France with a special focus on the italian initiative Patti Digitali

Fishery analysis is critical in maintaining the long-term sustainability of species and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on fishing for food and income. The fishing gear, or metier, is a key factor significantly impacting marine habitats, selectively targeting species and fish sizes. Analysis of commercial catches or landings by metier in fishery stock assessment and management is crucial, providing robust estimates of fishing efforts and their impact on marine ecosystems. In this paper, we focus on a unique data set from the Azores' fishing data collection programs between 2010 and 2017, where little information on metiers is available and sparse throughout our timeline. Our main objective is to tackle the task of data set reconstruction, leveraging domain knowledge and machine learning methods to retrieve or associate metier-related information to each fish landing. We empirically validate the feasibility of this task using a diverse set of modeling approaches and demonstrate how it provides new insights into different fisheries' behavior and the impact of metiers over time, which are essential for future fish population assessments, management, and conservation efforts.

In the context of the global seafood industry, the Azores archipelago (Portugal) plays a pivotal role due to its vast maritime domain. This study employs complex network analysis techniques to investigate the dynamics of Azores fisheries, using time series data converted into networks. We uncover associations between Tunas and specific islands, consistent links among fish classifications, and identify other pivotal nodes within the fishing network. Remarkably, nodes with high degrees and a local clustering coefficient of one provide crucial insights into the fishing ecosystem. This study highlights the value of network analysis for understanding fisheries complexities and offers insights into sustainable management and the preservation of marine ecosystems. It also emphasizes the urgency for ongoing research and data collection to enrich our understanding of this multifaceted domain.

In the last decade, numerous studies have identified digital technologies as a tool to foster the integration of young people who have a personal or family migratory background. The spread of smartphones, which has occurred in recent years, has bridged the digital divide for Internet access, offering a favorable opportunity for the integration of migrants. However, the research on digital inequality has shown that when the gap in access to Information Communication Technologies (ITC) is reduced, new inequalities emerge in skills and personal benefits that people can get online. This «second-level» digital divide has also been detected with respect to the negative effects of Internet use. Up to now, very few studies investigated these flipsides of technologies among students with a migratory background, especially in comparison with local peers. This study aims to contribute to this debate by exploiting the data collected over 3,300 upper secondary school students (grade 10) in the «Digital Wellbeing – Schools» project. The analyzes show that students with a migratory background accumulate disadvantages compared to their local peers in terms of digital competence, active use of digital media and problematic smartphone use. Moreover, we found that such divides are mostly explained by family characteristics. Drawing on these results, theoretical and policy implications, which go beyond the mere diffusion of ICT, are discussed.

Mesopelagic organisms play a crucial role in marine food webs, channelling energy across the predator-prey network and connecting depth strata through their diel vertical migrations. The information available to assess mesopelagic feeding interactions and energy transfer has increased substantially in recent years, owing to the growing interest and research activity in the mesopelagic realm. However, such data have not been systematically collated and are difficult to access, hampering estimation of the contribution of mesopelagic organisms to marine ecosystems. Here we present MesopTroph, a georeferenced database of diet, trophic markers, and energy content of mesopelagic and other marine taxa compiled from 203 published and non-published sources. MesopTroph currently includes data on stomach contents, carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, major and trace elements, energy density, fatty acids, trophic positions, and diet proportion estimates for 498 species/genera. MesopTroph will be expanded with new data emerging from ongoing studies. MesopTroph provides a unique tool to investigate trophic interactions and energy flow mediated by mesopelagic organisms, and to evaluate the ecosystem services of this community

The paper presents a project concerning the digital education for families. The paediatrician is the central figure in this project and leads parents towards a conscious management of digital media, giving them and their children specific indications for all age groups, starting from birth. The project, developed with the direct involvement of paediatricians in multidisciplinary groups, is based on scientific evidence and has been the subject of extensive experimentation in the field. Parents are offered not only limits but also alternative and complementary activities, useful for the development of their children and the improvement of the quality of their personal relationships. The continuous training of paediatricians, the annual updating of materials and research for impact assessment are the basis for the implementation of the project. The territorial educational alliance is a fundamental step in the digital education for the family, which is a subject that poses several open challenges in which the family paediatrician is called to play a central role.

Over the past decade, smartphones have permeated all domains of adolescents’ everyday lives, with research dominated by “smartphone addiction.” This study compares one of the most used measures of smartphone addiction with a new alternative measure, the Smartphone Pervasiveness Scale for Adolescents (SPS-A), which focuses on the frequency of smartphone use at key social and physiological moments of daily life. A sample of 3,289 Italian high school students was used to validate the two constructs and compare their suitability for research on academic performance. SPS-A was moderately correlated with smartphone addiction, showed measurement invariance (across ethnic origins, parental education, and gender), and negatively predicted language and math test scores. SPS-A is a nonpathologizing instrument suitable for analyzing the role of smartphone use in academic achievement in combination with students’ social backgrounds.

App-based persuasive technologies emerged as promising tools to promote sustainable travel behavior. However, the opt-in, self-selection framework characterizing their use in real-life conditions might actually lead to wrongly estimate their potential and actual impact in analyses that do not rely on strict randomized controlled trials. To investigate evidence of such biases, we analyze mobility data gathered from users of a persuasive app promoting public transport and active mobility launched in 2018 in Bellinzona (Switzerland). We consider the users’ baseline mobility data: km per day (total and by car) traveled during the app validation period, when behavior change motivational features were not enabled. To estimate the possible self-selection bias, we compare these data with the reference population, using data from the Swiss Mobility and Transport Census; to study the possible attrition bias, we look at the relations between baseline mobility and the number of weeks of app’s active use. We find evidence of neither self-selection nor critical attrition biases. This strengthens findings by earlier non RCT-based analyses and confirms the relevance of app-based persuasive technologies for mobility behavior change.

As COVID-19 swept across the globe, disrupting people’s lives through lockdowns and health concerns, information about how to stay safe and how to identify symptoms spread across media of all forms. Using survey data we collected in April 2020 on a national sample of Americans, we tested the knowledge gap hypothesis by examining how people’s education levels relate to their knowledge about COVID-19 as well as their susceptibility to fake news, and whether information sources moderate this relationship. Our findings suggest that a knowledge gap exists, with those with higher education levels displaying higher levels of knowledge. In contrast, education level did not play a role in believing false information. Moreover, higher news consumption through radio, print newspapers and magazines, and especially social media was associated with lower levels of knowledge and more fake news beliefs. However, news media consumption did not moderate the relationship between education and either knowledge or fake news beliefs, meaning that the media did not explain the education-based knowledge gap during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Choice inconsistency has long been studied in economics and psychology. In this article we critically review theories of media choice, showing that they have not explicitly dealt with this phenomenon. Although digitalization has recently made it more salient, the communication literature on inconsistent choice still remains highly fragmented. We draw on interdisciplinary literature to address blind spots in our theorization of inconsistent media selection.

Choice inconsistency has long been studied in economics and psychology. In this article we critically review theories of media choice, showing that they have not explicitly dealt with this phenomenon. Although digitalization has recently made it more salient, the communication literature on inconsistent choice still remains highly fragmented. We draw on interdisciplinary literature to address blind spots in our theorization of inconsistent media selection.

App-based persuasive technologies emerged as promising tools to promote sustainable travel behavior. However, the opt-in, self-selection framework characterizing their use in real-life conditions might actually lead to wrongly estimate their potential and actual impact in analyses that do not rely on strict randomized controlled trials. To investigate evidence of such biases, we analyze mobility data gathered from users of a persuasive app promoting public transport and active mobility launched in 2018 in Bellinzona (Switzerland). We consider the users’ baseline mobility data: km per day (total and by car) traveled during the app validation period, when behavior change motivational features were not enabled. To estimate the possible self-selection bias, we compare these data with the reference population, using data from the Swiss Mobility and Transport Census; to study the possible attrition bias, we look at the relations between baseline mobility and the number of weeks of app’s active use. We find evidence of neither self-selection nor critical attrition biases. This strengthens findings by earlier non RCT-based analyses and confirms the relevance of app-based persuasive technologies for mobility behavior change.

As COVID-19 swept across the globe, disrupting people’s lives through lockdowns and health concerns, information about how to stay safe and how to identify symptoms spread across media of all forms. Using survey data we collected in April 2020 on a national sample of Americans, we tested the knowledge gap hypothesis by examining how people’s education levels relate to their knowledge about COVID-19 as well as their susceptibility to fake news, and whether information sources moderate this relationship. Our findings suggest that a knowledge gap exists, with those with higher education levels displaying higher levels of knowledge. In contrast, education level did not play a role in believing false information. Moreover, higher news consumption through radio, print newspapers and magazines, and especially social media was associated with lower levels of knowledge and more fake news beliefs. However, news media consumption did not moderate the relationship between education and either knowledge or fake news beliefs, meaning that the media did not explain the education-based knowledge gap during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In recent years, smartphones have become the most popular and ubiquitous tool for adolescents to access the internet in developed countries. However, the pervasiveness of this device, even in the most relevant moments of the day, has raised some concerns about its confinement capabilities. In this paper we test the hypothesis that smartphone pervasiveness in adolescents’ daily life represents a new source of digital and social inequality on the entire high-school student population of Valle D’Aosta region, in Northern Italy (N=4,675). By means of a mediation analysis, we show how smartphone pervasiveness mediates the relationship existing between students’ social origins, measured though their parents’ educational level, and school performance, thus contributing to deepening the academic polarisation between high- and low-performing students.

The widespread diffusion of smartphones has opened new challenges regarding the psychological consequences of their usage on social relationships. The term phubbing (a combination of phone and snubbing) indicates the act of ignoring someone in a social context by paying attention to the smartphone. The few existing studies show that phubbing is widespread, mutually reinforced, and socially accepted, with possible negative consequences for social and individual well-being. Phubbing can occur in every social context, including romantic relationships, workplaces, and family. However, to date, minimal attention has been given to the possible impact that phubbing carried out by parents can have on their children. To start filling this gap, in this paper, we introduced a new scale that measures the perception of being subject to parental phubbing and showed the prevalence of perceived phubbing on a stratified sample of 3,289 adolescents. Firstly, the dimensionality, validity, and invariance of the construct were proven. Moreover, our results showed a positive relationship between children’s perceived levels of parental phubbing and their feelings of social disconnection with parents, thus suggesting that the more children felt that one or both of their parents were phubbing them, the less the children felt connected with their parents.

Public discourse about overuse as an undesired side effect of digital communication is growing. This article conceptually develops and empirically analyzes users’ perceived digital overuse (PDO) as a widespread social phenomenon sensitive to existing inequalities. In an age of digital communication abundance and closing Internet access divides, overuse has not been systematically investigated nor are its social disparities known. In a first step, PDO is demarcated from Internet addiction, theoretically defined, and operationalized. Then, the prevalence of perceived overuse is assessed in a representative population sample of Italian Internet users (N = 2,008) and predictors of digital overuse are tested. Results show that digital communication use and the level of social pressure to function digitally are positively related to PDO. Education is negatively associated with PDO and positively with digital communication use and social digital pressure. Overuse is emerging as a new dimension of digital inequality with implications for theory and future research in digital well-being.

The “Digital Well-being - Schools” project carried out the first randomised trial in Italy on the efficacy of media education. The impact of a systematic media education course was tested in a sample of randomly selected classes, compared with a control sample.

The “Digital Well-being - Schools” project carried out the first randomised trial in Italy on the efficacy of media education. The impact of a systematic media education course was tested in a sample of randomly selected classes, compared with a control sample.

L’introduzione delle tecnologie dell’informazione e della comunicazione (TIC) in ambito educativo rappresenta da oltre vent’anni una priorità dell’agenda politica italiana. Tuttavia, persiste un diffuso clima di incertezza verso le finalità degli interventi realizzati nel corso del tempo in tale direzione. Da un lato, c’è la volontà di accrescere i livelli di apprendimento degli studenti nelle materie curricolari sfruttando le TIC come strumento di supporto alla didattica (strumenti per apprendere). Dall’altro, la necessità di intervenire sulle competenze critiche dei giovani nell’uso dei media digitali (oggetti di apprendimento). In questo studio mostriamo che il primo degli obiettivi ha chiaramente sovrastato il secondo, anche se le politiche messe in atto per perseguirlo non si sono dimostrate sinora efficaci. Inoltre, l’assenza di un quadro teorico di riferimento stabile e di indicazioni chiare sul tema della competenza digitale ha costituito un freno alla pianificazione e alla realizzazione di interventi organici di educazione ai media. Alla luce di tali evidenze, si sottolinea l’urgenza di investire con maggiore determinazione nello sviluppo e nella valutazione rigorosa di iniziative volte a trasformare le TIC in oggetti d’apprendimento.

Alle tecnologie digitali si è guardato come a una delle leve principali per il miglioramento della scuola. È proprio così? Alcune delle più importanti aspettative, come quella di incrementare i livelli di apprendimento degli studenti, non hanno trovato finora un riscontro negli studi scientifici internazionali; per altre manca un’adeguata valutazione. Discutendo i limiti cognitivi e sociali del digitale a scuola in un contesto di connessione permanente, l’autore sviluppa una visione alternativa del ruolo del digitale nell’esperienza educativa: prima ancora che fare didattica con le tecnologie è urgente educare all’uso consapevole dei media.

L’introduzione delle tecnologie dell’informazione e della comunicazione (TIC) in ambito educativo rappresenta da oltre vent’anni una priorità dell’agenda politica italiana. Tuttavia, persiste un diffuso clima di incertezza verso le finalità degli interventi realizzati nel corso del tempo in tale direzione. Da un lato, c’è la volontà di accrescere i livelli di apprendimento degli studenti nelle materie curricolari sfruttando le TIC come strumento di supporto alla didattica (strumenti per apprendere). Dall’altro, la necessità di intervenire sulle competenze critiche dei giovani nell’uso dei media digitali (oggetti di apprendimento). In questo studio mostriamo che il primo degli obiettivi ha chiaramente sovrastato il secondo, anche se le politiche messe in atto per perseguirlo non si sono dimostrate sinora efficaci. Inoltre, l’assenza di un quadro teorico di riferimento stabile e di indicazioni chiare sul tema della competenza digitale ha costituito un freno alla pianificazione e alla realizzazione di interventi organici di educazione ai media. Alla luce di tali evidenze, si sottolinea l’urgenza di investire con maggiore determinazione nello sviluppo e nella valutazione rigorosa di iniziative volte a trasformare le TIC in oggetti d’apprendimento.

L’unione di tre innovazioni come la Rete Internet, la connessione in mobilità e i social media ha portato, secondo alcuni autori, a una condizione che viene definita «iperconnessione» (si veda Chayko 2017). Tale condizione mette gli utenti nella possibilità di essere permanentemente immersi in un flusso di informazione e comunicazione sia in entrata che in uscita dai loro dispositivi. È stato soprattutto lo smartphone ad aver portato l’iperconnessione nell’esperienza di vita della maggioranza dei cittadini dei Paesi industrializzati, a cominciare dalla fascia giovane della popolazione che risulta particolarmente toccata dal nuovo ambiente comunicativo (Mascheroni – Ólafsson 2016). La connessione ubiqua e permanente ha aperto così una serie di nuove opportunità di comunicazione, lavoro e svago che sono più flessibili, veloci e facili di sempre. Allo stesso tempo, però, essa finisce per essere difficile da gestire nella quotidianità. Infatti, questi strumenti, e i mondi che si aprono tramite essi, ci riempiono di stimoli che possono anche essere eccessivi, stressanti e distraenti, facendo emergere sempre più chiaramente negli ultimi anni la necessità di un filtro e di una regolazione da parte degli individui, così come delle comunità (Gui 2014).

Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fixation of carbon atoms that were ultimately assimilated into muscle tissues of 5,394 sharks from 114 species, we identify globally consistent biogeographic traits in trophic interactions between sharks found in different habitats. We show that populations of shelf-dwelling sharks derive a substantial proportion of their carbon from regional pelagic sources, but contain individuals that forage within additional isotopically diverse local food webs, such as those supported by terrestrial plant sources, benthic production and macrophytes. In contrast, oceanic sharks seem to use carbon derived from between 30° and 50° of latitude. Global-scale compilations of stable isotope data combined with biogeochemical modelling generate hypotheses regarding animal behaviours that can be tested with other methodological approaches.

Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fixation of carbon atoms that were ultimately assimilated into muscle tissues of 5,394 sharks from 114 species, we identify globally consistent biogeographic traits in trophic interactions between sharks found in different habitats. We show that populations of shelf-dwelling sharks derive a substantial proportion of their carbon from regional pelagic sources, but contain individuals that forage within additional isotopically diverse local food webs, such as those supported by terrestrial plant sources, benthic production and macrophytes. In contrast, oceanic sharks seem to use carbon derived from between 30° and 50° of latitude. Global-scale compilations of stable isotope data combined with biogeochemical modelling generate hypotheses regarding animal behaviours that can be tested with other methodological approaches.

This article provides a detailed and robust estimate of the impact of three different digital technologies (interactive whiteboards, wireless connections, and mobile devices) on Italian language and mathematics performance in lower secondary schools in Italy. Our analysis of longitudinal data from 2010 to 2014 shows that no significant effects emerge at a national level from increased stocks of any of the three technologies, confirming the existing literature. However, when controlling for geographical area, we show that all three technologies had a positive effect on mathematics results in the north of Italy, with a detrimental effect in the south. We find that the positive effect in the north was driven by low-attaining schools, while the negative impact in the south was driven by higher attaining schools. No effects were found on Italian language performance, except for a slightly positive impact in the lowest-achieving schools in all geographical areas. The significance of these results is discussed with regards to future public intervention and research in this field.

Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fixation of carbon atoms that were ultimately assimilated into muscle tissues of 5,394 sharks from 114 species, we identify globally consistent biogeographic traits in trophic interactions between sharks found in different habitats. We show that populations of shelf-dwelling sharks derive a substantial proportion of their carbon from regional pelagic sources, but contain individuals that forage within additional isotopically diverse local food webs, such as those supported by terrestrial plant sources, benthic production and macrophytes. In contrast, oceanic sharks seem to use carbon derived from between 30° and 50° of latitude. Global-scale compilations of stable isotope data combined with biogeochemical modelling generate hypotheses regarding animal behaviours that can be tested with other methodological approaches.

Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fixation of carbon atoms that were ultimately assimilated into muscle tissues of 5,394 sharks from 114 species, we identify globally consistent biogeographic traits in trophic interactions between sharks found in different habitats. We show that populations of shelf-dwelling sharks derive a substantial proportion of their carbon from regional pelagic sources, but contain individuals that forage within additional isotopically diverse local food webs, such as those supported by terrestrial plant sources, benthic production and macrophytes. In contrast, oceanic sharks seem to use carbon derived from between 30° and 50° of latitude. Global-scale compilations of stable isotope data combined with biogeochemical modelling generate hypotheses regarding animal behaviours that can be tested with other methodological approaches.

Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fixation of carbon atoms that were ultimately assimilated into muscle tissues of 5,394 sharks from 114 species, we identify globally consistent biogeographic traits in trophic interactions between sharks found in different habitats. We show that populations of shelf-dwelling sharks derive a substantial proportion of their carbon from regional pelagic sources, but contain individuals that forage within additional isotopically diverse local food webs, such as those supported by terrestrial plant sources, benthic production and macrophytes. In contrast, oceanic sharks seem to use carbon derived from between 30° and 50° of latitude. Global-scale compilations of stable isotope data combined with biogeochemical modelling generate hypotheses regarding animal behaviours that can be tested with other methodological approaches.

Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fixation of carbon atoms that were ultimately assimilated into muscle tissues of 5,394 sharks from 114 species, we identify globally consistent biogeographic traits in trophic interactions between sharks found in different habitats. We show that populations of shelf-dwelling sharks derive a substantial proportion of their carbon from regional pelagic sources, but contain individuals that forage within additional isotopically diverse local food webs, such as those supported by terrestrial plant sources, benthic production and macrophytes. In contrast, oceanic sharks seem to use carbon derived from between 30° and 50° of latitude. Global-scale compilations of stable isotope data combined with biogeochemical modelling generate hypotheses regarding animal behaviours that can be tested with other methodological approaches.

Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fixation of carbon atoms that were ultimately assimilated into muscle tissues of 5,394 sharks from 114 species, we identify globally consistent biogeographic traits in trophic interactions between sharks found in different habitats. We show that populations of shelf-dwelling sharks derive a substantial proportion of their carbon from regional pelagic sources, but contain individuals that forage within additional isotopically diverse local food webs, such as those supported by terrestrial plant sources, benthic production and macrophytes. In contrast, oceanic sharks seem to use carbon derived from between 30° and 50° of latitude. Global-scale compilations of stable isotope data combined with biogeochemical modelling generate hypotheses regarding animal behaviours that can be tested with other methodological approaches.

Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fixation of carbon atoms that were ultimately assimilated into muscle tissues of 5,394 sharks from 114 species, we identify globally consistent biogeographic traits in trophic interactions between sharks found in different habitats. We show that populations of shelf-dwelling sharks derive a substantial proportion of their carbon from regional pelagic sources, but contain individuals that forage within additional isotopically diverse local food webs, such as those supported by terrestrial plant sources, benthic production and macrophytes. In contrast, oceanic sharks seem to use carbon derived from between 30° and 50° of latitude. Global-scale compilations of stable isotope data combined with biogeochemical modelling generate hypotheses regarding animal behaviours that can be tested with other methodological approaches.