"Large datasets like this one are created to support statistical models that look at the distribution of ocean species and how interactions between ocean species, such as between predators and their prey, might look in the future." The trait database is also available for international scientists to support learning about how systems are changing, Green notes. While many species are important prey for top predators like tunas, sharks, salmon and many others in ocean systems worldwide, other animals the team documented are known only from a handful of specimens. The research team, including seven U of A students, put in more than 10,000 hours to generate 155,000 unique pieces of information on the traits of 521 species of fish, crustaceans, squids, octopuses, and more found in ocean environments. Oceans cover more than 70 percent of the planet yet are less explored than space. Through the use of trait-based studies, the group hopes to create a new way to understand how ocean predators are adapting to the impacts of climate change. "What we're finding is that albacore tuna are quite adaptable from among the hundreds of species they could eat, they seek out prey that have all the characteristics they prefer and focus on them," explains research associate and study lead author Miram Gleiber. "Our goal is to understand better when and where the most desirable prey will be found as the climate changes," says Green. To figure out what traits are important to ocean predators, the researchers created a database categorizing more than 30 traits including fat and protein content, shape, color, size, and behaviors that make ocean species potentially tasty to predators, including albacore tuna. "Just like we choose foods based on what we like-be it a salty pretzel or sweet, crunchy apple-ocean predators make decisions based on the characteristics of the prey they are faced with," says Green. To address this challenge, the science team shone a different light on the snacking habits of this ocean predator by looking at the common characteristics or traits of the foods they eat. The buffet of prey albacore consume makes it tough for scientists to predict where their populations will go as climate change worsens. The team honed in on albacore tuna, a torpedo-shaped predator known to eat hundreds of different species around the world and whose harvest is regulated by a treaty between the United States and Canada. Wind and currents in the Pacific Ocean make the west coast of Canada and the United States an attractive feeding ground for migrating predators like tuna, where they support lucrative fisheries and also a hotbed of climate impacts. To tackle these questions, researchers at the University of Alberta are collaborating with colleagues in the United States to discover how top predators will respond to climate extremes and changing prey over the coming decades. "Our big questions are where will marine species go, and what will it mean for communities that rely on the fisheries they support?" More people should watch it."Climate change is shifting where species can live, and the pace of change is most intense in the ocean," says Stephanie Green, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Global Change Ecology and Conservation. Prey does something similar, but Predators comes with a suite of its own ideas and expands the universe in interesting ways. The movie is dark and visceral in an understated way that reminds me of the original.It's a cool idea, and it's well executed. Instead of visiting Earth, the cast is essentially a group of humans kidnapped and placed on a hunting reserve on the Predator's home planet. I love the whole setting of Predators.In fact, the whole cast - which features Topher Grace, Alice Braga and Laurence Fishburne - is really compelling. It features a buffed-up Adrien Brody in a really interesting, slightly different type of hero performance. It feels very nice to have a good, new Predator movie available to watch. Prey has just come out and there's a certain amount of recency bias. Here are my reasons for putting Predators, from 2010, ahead of Prey. I want to say up front that it was very close between Prey and Predators for the coveted No.
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