Shark Ecology

Sharks play a crucial role as apex or mesopredators in oceans worldwide, inhabiting both saltwater and freshwater ecosystems and occupying all layers of the water column, from deep sea environments to coastal shallows. However, sharks are increasingly threatened by intense human activities, including overfishing, unregulated and illegal fishing, pollution, habitat loss and degradation, and the effects of climate change, just to highlight the most pressing challenges. Thus, this Special Issue is essential to integrate the knowledge of specialists from various disciplines to enhance public understanding and improve the effectiveness of shark conservation strategies. As biodiversity conservation should not be approached as an isolate issue, several shark researchers contributed to this Special Issue across different shark ecological topics including behaviour, monitoring, ecotoxicology, trophic ecology, biology, and paleobiology. These cross-disciplinary efforts aimed to develop and implement long-term and impactful protection measures worldwide and provided a platform to showcase recent research on shark ecology, enhancing innovative methodologies and perspectives focused on this elusive group of species. As Guest Editors, and together with the Diversity editorial team, we want to thank all the researchers involved who made possible a more in-depth knowledge of shark ecology, from the threats they face to the corresponding conservation efforts.