All Outputs (32)

Survival and recovery of three shark species in North-East Atlantic recreational fisheries (2025)
Journal Article
Garzon, F., Abel, G., Burrett, I., Exeter, O. M., Hawkes, L. A., Horton, T. W., Lambrette, M., Plaster, A., Righton, D., Rudd, H., Rudd, J. L., Stewart, B. D., Thomas, S., Thorburn, J., Whittaker, P. S. M., & Witt, M. J. (2025). Survival and recovery of three shark species in North-East Atlantic recreational fisheries. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 82(10), fsaf191. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsaf191

Understanding how sharks respond to catch and release (C&R) recreational fisheries is an important requirement for effective management. Post-release survival and recovery in recreational fisheries can be species- and setting-dependent. Nevertheless,... Read More about Survival and recovery of three shark species in North-East Atlantic recreational fisheries.

On the Brink: Mapping the Last Strongholds of the Critically Endangered Flapper Skate (Dipturus intermedius) (2025)
Journal Article
Loca, S. L., Collins, P. C., Garbett, A., McGeady, R., Thorburn, J., & McGonigle, C. (2025). On the Brink: Mapping the Last Strongholds of the Critically Endangered Flapper Skate (Dipturus intermedius). Ecology and Evolution, 15(7), e71650. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71650

The flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius) is a Critically Endangered skate distributed throughout the NE Atlantic and requiring urgent conservation measures. Existing models of the flapper skate's distribution are not detailed enough to inform managem... Read More about On the Brink: Mapping the Last Strongholds of the Critically Endangered Flapper Skate (Dipturus intermedius).

A research toolbox for regional data collection to support the conservation of large batoids: A case study on the critically endangered flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius) (2025)
Journal Article
Loca, S. L., Garbett, A., Houghton, J. D. R., Thorburn, J., Ó Cadhla, O., Clarke, M., Hannon, G., Pothanikat, L., Mayo, P. A., Gallagher, R., Hoppner, M. D. J., & Collins, P. C. (2025). A research toolbox for regional data collection to support the conservation of large batoids: A case study on the critically endangered flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius). Conservation Science and Practice, 7(6), e70052. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70052

Elasmobranchs, specifically skate species (superorder Batoidea), are at risk of extinction, with over one‐third currently listed as Endangered, exacerbated due to their k‐selected life strategy. A regional conservation approach is required to support... Read More about A research toolbox for regional data collection to support the conservation of large batoids: A case study on the critically endangered flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius).

Using citizen science photographs to identify reproductive events in an oviparous elasmobranch (2025)
Journal Article
Mawer, R., Dodd, J., Thorburn, J., Burns, N. M., & Bailey, D. M. (2025). Using citizen science photographs to identify reproductive events in an oviparous elasmobranch. Journal of Fish Biology, 107(2), 419-430. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.70044

Identifying critical habitats is important for the effective management of vulnerable species. Critical habitats, such as mating or nursery grounds, support populations during key life stages and help to maximise reproductive output and population gr... Read More about Using citizen science photographs to identify reproductive events in an oviparous elasmobranch.

patter: Particle algorithms for animal tracking in R and Julia (2025)
Journal Article
Lavender, E., Scheidegger, A., Albert, C., Biber, S. W., Illian, J., Thorburn, J., Smout, S., & Moor, H. (2025). patter: Particle algorithms for animal tracking in R and Julia. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 16(8), 1609-1616. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.70029

State‐space models are a powerful modelling framework in movement ecology that represents individual movements and the processes connecting movements to observations. However, fitting state‐space models to animal‐tracking data can be difficult and co... Read More about patter: Particle algorithms for animal tracking in R and Julia.

Particle algorithms for animal movement modelling in receiver arrays (2025)
Journal Article
Lavender, E., Scheidegger, A., Albert, C., Biber, S. W., Illian, J., Thorburn, J., Smout, S., & Moor, H. (2025). Particle algorithms for animal movement modelling in receiver arrays. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 16(8), 1808-1819. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.70028

Particle filters and smoothers are sequential Monte Carlo algorithms used to fit non‐linear, non‐Gaussian state‐space models. These algorithms are well placed to fit process‐oriented models to animal‐tracking data, especially in receiver arrays, but... Read More about Particle algorithms for animal movement modelling in receiver arrays.

An Assessment of Demersal Elasmobranch Occurrence and Associated Habitats Using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) (2025)
Journal Article
Taylor, J., Howe, J. A., Thorburn, J., Fox, C. J., McGonigle, C., & Rybanska, P. (2025). An Assessment of Demersal Elasmobranch Occurrence and Associated Habitats Using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). Marine Ecology, 46(1), e70000. https://doi.org/10.1111/maec.70000

To implement effective management and conservation strategies, an understanding of the spatial ecology, habitat preferences and movement of demersal elasmobranchs is required. This study combines a photographic survey obtained from an autonomous unde... Read More about An Assessment of Demersal Elasmobranch Occurrence and Associated Habitats Using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV).

Current methods and best practice recommendations for skate and ray (Batoidea) research: capture, handling, anaesthesia, euthanasia, and tag attachment (2025)
Journal Article
Orrell, D. L., Andrzejaczek, S., Armstrong, A. O., Barbosa Martins, A., Branco, I., Charvet, P., Chin, A., Elston, C., Espinoza, M., Greenway, E. S. I., McCully Phillips, S. R., Mickle, M. F., Murray, T. S., Silva, J. F., Thorburn, J., & Wosnick, N. (2025). Current methods and best practice recommendations for skate and ray (Batoidea) research: capture, handling, anaesthesia, euthanasia, and tag attachment. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 35(1), 117-144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-024-09918-3

Skates and rays (Batoidea) play a significant ecological role, contributing to ecosystem services through bioturbation and acting as vital intermediate components of the trophic chain in various aquatic environments. Despite their wide global distrib... Read More about Current methods and best practice recommendations for skate and ray (Batoidea) research: capture, handling, anaesthesia, euthanasia, and tag attachment.

Fine-scale residency and temperature-driven habitat selection in a migratory shark species (2024)
Journal Article
Thorburn, J., Gagnon, É., Martin, J., Henry, L.-A., Wright, P. J., Dodd, J., James, M., & Neat, F. (2025). Fine-scale residency and temperature-driven habitat selection in a migratory shark species. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 108(4), 483-500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-024-01640-0

Many marine species exhibit complex and diverse movements that vary across spatial and temporal scales. These movements must be accounted for when designing effective management and conservation efforts. While environmental cues such as temperature a... Read More about Fine-scale residency and temperature-driven habitat selection in a migratory shark species.

Physiological responses to capture, handling and tagging in the critically endangered flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius) (2024)
Journal Article
Cole, G., Lavender, E., Naylor, A., Girling, S., Aleynik, D., Oppel, S., Dodd, J., & Thorburn, J. (2024). Physiological responses to capture, handling and tagging in the critically endangered flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius). Conservation Physiology, 12(1), coae077. https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coae077

Catch-and-release angling is a popular recreational pastime and an essential component of many fish research programmes. Marked physiological disturbances have been documented in elasmobranchs in response to angling and handling, but skates and rays... Read More about Physiological responses to capture, handling and tagging in the critically endangered flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius).

Particle algorithms for animal movement modelling in autonomous receiver networks (2024)
Preprint / Working Paper
Lavender, E., Scheidegger, A., Albert, C., Biber, S., Illian, J., Thorburn, J., Smout, S., & Moor, H. (2024). Particle algorithms for animal movement modelling in autonomous receiver networks. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.16.613223

1. Particle filters and smoothers are powerful sequential Monte Carlo algorithms used to fit non-linear, non-Gaussian state-space models. These algorithms are well placed to fit process-orientated models to animal-tracking data, especially in autonom... Read More about Particle algorithms for animal movement modelling in autonomous receiver networks.

Patter: particle algorithms for animal tracking in R and Julia (2024)
Preprint / Working Paper
Lavender, E., Scheidegger, A., Albert, C., Biber, S. W., Illian, J., Thorburn, J., Smout, S., & Moor, H. (2024). Patter: particle algorithms for animal tracking in R and Julia. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.07.30.605733

In the field of movement ecology, state-space models have emerged as a powerful modelling framework that represents individual movements and the processes that connect movements to observations. However, fitting state-space models to animal tracking... Read More about Patter: particle algorithms for animal tracking in R and Julia.

Assessing the potential of acoustic telemetry to underpin the regional management of basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) (2024)
Journal Article
Thorburn, J., Collins, P. C., Garbett, A., Vance, H., Phillips, N., Drumm, A., Cooney, J., Waters, C., Ó’Maoiléidigh, N., Johnston, E., Dolton, H. R., Berrow, S., Hall, G., Hall, J., Delvillar, D., McGill, R., Whoriskey, F., Fangue, N. A., McInturf, A. G., …Houghton, J. D. R. (2024). Assessing the potential of acoustic telemetry to underpin the regional management of basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus). Animal Biotelemetry, 12, 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40317-024-00370-5

Acoustic telemetry can provide valuable space-use data for a range of marine species. Yet the deployment of species-specific arrays over vast areas to gather data on highly migratory vertebrates poses formidable challenges, often rendering it impract... Read More about Assessing the potential of acoustic telemetry to underpin the regional management of basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus).

Inshore and offshore marine migration pathways of Atlantic salmon post-smolts from multiple rivers in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, and Ireland (2024)
Journal Article
Rodger, J. R., Lilly, J., Honkanen, H. M., del Villar, D., Kennedy, R., Maoiléidigh, N. Ó., Boylan, P., Rosell, R., Morris, D. J., O'Neill, R., Waters, C., Cotter, D., Wilkie, L., Barkley, A., Green, A., Beck, S. V., Ribbens, J., Henderson, J., Parke, D., …Adams, C. E. (2025). Inshore and offshore marine migration pathways of Atlantic salmon post-smolts from multiple rivers in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, and Ireland. Journal of Fish Biology, 106(5), 1422-1439. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15760

The migratory behavior of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) post-smolts in coastal waters is poorly understood. In this collaborative study, 1914 smolts, from 25 rivers, in four countries were tagged with acoustic transmitters during a single seasonal mi... Read More about Inshore and offshore marine migration pathways of Atlantic salmon post-smolts from multiple rivers in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, and Ireland.

Preliminary insight into the reproductive traits of the flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius) using in-field ultrasonography and circulating hormone concentrations (2023)
Journal Article
Thorburn, J., Cole, G., Naylor, A., Garbett, A., Wilson, K., James, M., Dodd, J., Houghton, J. D. R., & Collins, P. C. (2023). Preliminary insight into the reproductive traits of the flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius) using in-field ultrasonography and circulating hormone concentrations. Endangered Species Research, 52, 97-111. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01264

Due to global population declines, there is a pressing need for data on the life history traits of many elasmobranch species to support the development of species-specific management plans. A lack of information on the reproductive cycle of the Criti... Read More about Preliminary insight into the reproductive traits of the flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius) using in-field ultrasonography and circulating hormone concentrations.

An integrative modelling framework for passive acoustic telemetry (2023)
Journal Article
Lavender, E., Biber, S., Illian, J., James, M., Wright, P. J., Thorburn, J., & Smout, S. (2023). An integrative modelling framework for passive acoustic telemetry. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 14(10), 2626-2638. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.14193

Passive acoustic telemetry is widely used to study the movements of aquatic animals. However, a holistic, mechanistic modelling framework that permits the reconstruction of fine‐scale movements and emergent patterns of space use from detections at re... Read More about An integrative modelling framework for passive acoustic telemetry.

Characteristics of the spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) nuclear genome (2023)
Journal Article
Wagner, C. I., Kopp, M. E. L., Thorburn, J., Jones, C. S., Hoarau, G., & Noble, L. R. (2023). Characteristics of the spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) nuclear genome. G3, 13(9), jkad146. https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkad146

Sequenced shark nuclear genomes are underrepresented, with reference genomes available for only four out of nine orders so far. Here we present the nuclear genome, with annotations, of the spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias), a shark of interest to bio... Read More about Characteristics of the spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) nuclear genome.

A holistic and comprehensive data approach validates the distribution of the critically endangered flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius) (2023)
Journal Article
Garbett, A., Loca, S. L., Barreau, T., Biscoito, M., Bradley, C., Breen, J., Clarke, M., Ellis, J. R., Griffiths, A. M., Hannon, G., Jakobsdóttir, K., Junge, C., Lynghammar, A., McCloskey, M., Minos, G., Phillips, N. D., Prodöhl, P. A., Roche, W., Iglésias, S. P., …Collins, P. C. (2023). A holistic and comprehensive data approach validates the distribution of the critically endangered flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius). Journal of Fish Biology, 103(3), 516-528. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15466

Morphological similarities between skates of the genus Dipturus in the north-eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean have resulted in longstanding confusion, misidentification and misreporting. Current evidence indicates that the common skate is best expl... Read More about A holistic and comprehensive data approach validates the distribution of the critically endangered flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius).

Mitochondrial haplotypes reveal low diversity and restricted connectivity of the critically endangered batoid population in a Marine Protected Area (2023)
Journal Article
Schwanck, T. N., Vizer, L. F., Thorburn, J., Dodd, J., Wright, P. J., Donnan, D. W., Noble, L. R., & Jones, C. S. (2024). Mitochondrial haplotypes reveal low diversity and restricted connectivity of the critically endangered batoid population in a Marine Protected Area. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 731, 279-291. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14242

Stability and long-term persistence of a species rely heavily on its genetic diversity, which is closely allied to its capacity for adaptation. In threatened species, population connectivity can play a major role in maintaining that diversity, and ge... Read More about Mitochondrial haplotypes reveal low diversity and restricted connectivity of the critically endangered batoid population in a Marine Protected Area.

Benthic animal-borne sensors and citizen science combine to validate ocean modelling (2022)
Journal Article
Lavender, E., Aleynik, D., Dodd, J., Illian, J., James, M., Smout, S., & Thorburn, J. A. (2022). Benthic animal-borne sensors and citizen science combine to validate ocean modelling. Scientific Reports, 12, 16613. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-20254-z

Developments in animal electronic tagging and tracking have transformed the field of movement ecology, but interest is also growing in the contributions of tagged animals to oceanography. Animal-borne sensors can address data gaps, improve ocean mode... Read More about Benthic animal-borne sensors and citizen science combine to validate ocean modelling.