Animal movement underpins critical ecological processes and shapes ecosystem resilience. In marine systems, understanding the spatial ecology and connectivity of exploited species is essential for informing conservation and sustainable fisheries management. Despite their ecological and economic importance, the spatio-temporal movement of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) in the Mediterranean Sea remains poorly understood. We leveraged the largest acoustic telemetry dataset ever collected in the Mediterranean as part of the project CONNECT-MED and RESMED, tracking 222 tagged seabream over three years (2019–2022). Using an array of more than 180 strategically positioned acoustic receivers across the Gulf of Lion in both lagoons and the sea, we analysed over 700,000 detections spanning a longitudinal gradient of 200 km. Using individual-based spatial network analysis, we quantified movement dynamics, space use, and connectivity. Seabream showed strong seasonal migrations, with wide (> 180 km for some individuals) spatial dispersal during spawning (October–March) and localized movements whilst foraging (April–September). Eastward and southward migration linked lagoon nurseries/foraging areas to offshore spawning areas. The Marseille area (Calanques National Park and Côte Bleue Marine Park) was identified as a major spawning region used by fish across the Gulf of Lion. Movement varied with fish size, with larger fish having more complex and dynamic networks. Autumn saw synchronous lagoon emigration and aggregation at spawning sites, with multi-year site fidelity. Our findings demonstrate size-dependent movement strategies in gilthead seabream and reveal structured connectivity linking lagoon foraging areas to offshore spawning grounds. The concentration of spawning activity near Marseille identifies a key regional hotspot of ecological and management importance. Incorporating these connectivity patterns, ontogenetic shifts, and spatial behaviours into fisheries management will be essential for sustaining seabream populations across the northwestern Mediterranean.

Migrations between lagoon and coastal environments are central to the ecology of many Mediterranean fishes. Salema porgy (Sarpa salpa) (Sparidae) is a key herbivore in the northwestern Mediterranean, yet its migratory phenology and spatial ecology remain poorly understood. We tracked 84 individuals over multiple years (2019–2022) using the largest acoustic telemetry array ever deployed in the northwestern Mediterranean. Fish occupied lagoons from March to August and migrated at sea from September to February, with no overwintering in lagoons. Some individuals migrated >750 km yet consistently returned to the same summer foraging lagoons, demonstrating remarkable fidelity despite extensive seasonal movements. Migration direction varied inter-annually (∼65% eastward in 2019 versus ∼47% in 2020), with eastward migrants tending to depart earlier than westward migrants. Most individuals exhibited strong lagoon fidelity, although 17% visited alternative lagoons and 8% permanently shifted summer foraging sites. Social network analysis of 77 fish revealed non-random associations forming 11 communities (Q = 0.45), assortative by body size (r = 0.32) but not release group (r = 0.05). Together, these findings reveal a highly structured movement system combining predictable seasonal migration, long-distance movements, site fidelity, and non-random social organisation that functionally links lagoon and offshore ecosystems. The strong temporal structuring of these multi-habitat movements likely increases vulnerability during seasonal aggregations, underscoring the need for large-scale, integrated, cross-border management rather than localised, compartmentalised approaches.

Although animal movement is known to be driven by environmental cues, the underlying physiological mechanisms that are impacted by the environment to trigger movements are rarely explored. We used acoustic telemetry to follow the migrations of 72 gilthead seabream Sparus aurata over more than 2 yr, between a coastal lagoon and the sea in the Western Mediterranean and related the movements to prevailing environmental parameters. We then captured seabream from coastal lagoons and used implanted data storage tags to investigate cardiac responses of free-swimming animals to acute changes in temperature. This permitted a novel interpretation of patterns of seasonal migrations for spawning, and apparent refuge migrations in summer, with respect to thresholds of cardiac tolerance to warming or cooling. The telemetry data indicated that lagoon temperature was the main trigger of seaward seasonal departures in autumn and returns to forage in the lagoon in spring. Cardiac responses to cooling showed that 13 degrees C was a lower sublethal temperature threshold, and seabream did not return to the lagoon until the average water temperature was 14.4 degrees C. Cardiac responses to warming showed that 29 degrees C was an upper sublethal threshold and, in summer, seabream performed apparent refuge migrations out to sea when lagoon temperature rose rapidly to exceed a mean of 27.4 degrees C. Overall, this study demonstrates that combining acoustic telemetry and ecophysiology can provide insights into the mechanistic basis for migratory movements of valuable fish species, which can improve understanding of how ongoing climate change will impact them.

Context Swordfish are among the most abundant top predators in the Indian Ocean, and play a key role in pelagic food webs. However, their feeding habits and ocean-wide trophic niche remain poorly known. Investigating swordfish foraging behaviour, diet variability and trophic position can provide important information on predator–prey dynamics and improve our understanding of open-ocean ecosystems functioning. Aims This study aims to evaluate the ecological role of swordfish in pelagic food webs across major biogeochemical provinces of the Indian Ocean and adjacent waters of the Atlantic. Methods We investigated the trophic ecology of swordfish using stomach content analysis and stable isotopic value (δ13C and δ15N) measurements from white muscle tissue. On the basis of 872 non-empty stomachs and 759 muscle samples collected between 1998 and 2011 across five biogeochemical provinces, we described swordfish prey composition, prey size structure and size-related prey biomass. We further analysed feeding patterns and swordfish’s relative trophic position within the pelagic ecosystem. Key results Epipelagic and vertically-migrating mesopelagic fishes, together with cephalopods, constituted the principal prey groups by number and reconstituted weight, alternating in dominance among provinces. Ommastrephid squids formed the primary component of the cephalopod prey group, a pattern consistently reported across ocean basins. Stomach content analysis showed an ontogenetic dietary shift, with dominance transitioning from fish to cephalopod prey. Although micronektonic prey dominated numerically, more than 70% of the total consumed prey biomass originated from large nektonic species, highlighting their crucial importance for swordfish populations. Muscle δ15N values increased with body size, indicating a rise in trophic position during growth, which was likely to be driven by the consumption of larger fish prey and an increasing contribution of cephalopods to the diet. Conclusions Swordfish exhibit a flexible and opportunistic feeding strategy, with their diet being largely composed of a limited number (5–7) of dominant prey species that vary across provinces and seasons. Muscle δ13C and δ15N values indicated a distinct isotopic niche within each Indian Ocean province, suggesting mid-term (months) residential behaviour at the provincial scale. Implications Residential behaviour may increase swordfish vulnerability to local depletion under excessive fishing pressure, potentially leading to mesopredator-release effects and broader trophic cascades. Continuous long-term monitoring of the Indian Ocean pelagic ecosystem is therefore essential to support sound management and sustainable exploitation of pelagic resources. This should include larger-expanded stomach-content sampling, improved δ13C and δ15N baseline and mid-trophic-level values and modelling of their pathways. In addition, estimates of tissue turnover rates, currently unavailable for swordfish, are needed to improve the evaluation of migratory and residential behaviour and refine interpretation of stable isotope data.

Anthropogenic activities have led to the persistent build-up of trace metals and organic pollutants in coastal ecosystems, threatening aquatic life. Gilthead seabream, a commercially valuable species, often inhabits Mediterranean lagoons that function as vital nursery grounds. In this study, we examined 93 juvenile seabreams from three Tunisian lagoons to evaluate contamination levels and their effects on otolith morphology. We measured inorganic and organic contaminants in fish muscle and investigated their potential effects on otolith shape and asymmetry. Clear fish muscle contamination signatures emerged across sites: Tunis Lagoon exhibited the highest levels of contamination, followed by Ghar El Melh, while El Biban Lagoon appeared relatively pristine. Relatively elevated levels of metals (e.g., Pb, Ni, Be) and persistent organic pollutants (e.g., PCBs, DDTs, PBDEs) were observed in the more impacted lagoons. Notably, we found that otolith shape and fluctuating asymmetry were significantly associated with contaminant exposure, even after accounting for natural variables like fish size and lipid content. Specific pollutants, especially Cu, Rb, Sr and DDT, were linked to altered otolith morphology, suggesting disrupted biomineralization. The stronger response of the left otolith suggests that sub-lethal stress impairs developmental stability. Although fish muscle contaminant levels generally fell below food safety thresholds, the observed effects on otolith development raise concerns about functional consequences and underlying physiological stress. Our results highlight otolith asymmetry as a sensitive bioindicator of environmental stress in wild fish. By integrating shape analysis with contaminant profiling, this study offers a powerful tool for assessing pollution impacts in vulnerable Mediterranean nursery habitats.

The sea turtle populations of Reunion Island, a volcanic island in the western Indian Ocean between Madagascar and Mauritius, were significantly impacted by human colonization in the 17th century. However, after 40 yr of local and regional conservation efforts, these populations are showing signs of recovery. This study examines spatiotemporal trends in the abundance and distribution of green turtles Chelonia mydas and hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata along the west coast of Reunion Island from 2008 to 2023. Data were collected through microlight aerial surveys and photo-ID. The results reveal a consistent increase in turtle abundance, particularly juveniles, with juvenile green turtles comprising 78%, juvenile hawksbill turtles 15%, and the remaining observations based on photo-ID being adult green turtles. Size-class estimates from aerial surveys suggest that annual fluctuations in abundance are derived largely from variations in the number of smaller turtles, underscoring Reunion Island's role as a critical developmental habitat. The highest concentrations of turtles were observed in fringing reef areas characterized by shallow, gently sloping bathymetric zones. Photo-ID also revealed strong site fidelity for both species. Combining aerial surveys and photo-ID-an innovative approach-this study provides life-stage-specific abundance trends across 9% (5.5 km2) of the surveyed area (60 km2) and links distribution patterns to food availability. Notably, in one area, a decline in green turtles correlates with the loss of seagrass habitat. These findings advance understanding of the spatial ecology of in-water turtles and offer valuable insights for local and regional conservation planning. They further emphasize the role of sea turtles as indicators of coastal ecosystem health.

The increasing anthropogenic and climatic pressures on marine ecosystems raise concerns about the sustainability of their functions, uses and conservation. Marine megafauna such as marine turtles are particularly vulnerable to these pressures due to their life cycle and the variability of habitats they occupy during their life cycle. Understanding how juvenile population dynamics respond to environmental conditions is crucial for designing effective conservation strategies. The present study investigates whether the genetic composition of juvenile green turtles at recruitment sites changes over time. A total of 346 juveniles were sampled at four key recruitment sites in the South Western Indian Ocean - SWIO (Glorieuses, Mayotte, Reunion and Aldabra) during two sampling phases at an interval between 6 and 17 years depending on the site. Based on mtDNA control region sequences, genetic structures were compared between periods within each site. Even if subtle changes in genetic composition may not be detectable with current genetic resolution, our results suggest that the structure of the juvenile green turtle population has not significantly changed over the course of the study period. Such stability in population structure may be correlated with the stability of regional oceanic currents over the last decades in the SWIO, as well as the dynamics of nesting populations in the different regional genetic stocks contributing in regional juvenile green turtle production.

Human activities and climate change have negatively affected the world's oceans, leading to a decline of 30 to 60 % in coastal ecosystems' biodiversity and habitats. The projected increase in the human population to 9.7 billion by 2050 raises concerns about the sustainability of marine ecosystem conservation and exploitation. Marine turtles, as sentinel species, accumulate contaminants, including trace elements, due to their extensive migration and long-life span. However, there is a lack of data on the degree of contamination and their effects on marine turtles' health. This study focuses on assessing in-situ inorganic contamination in juvenile green sea turtles from La Réunion Island and its short-term impact on individual health, using conventional biomarkers and proteomics. The goals include examining contamination patterns in different tissues and identifying potential new biomarkers for long-term monitoring and conservation efforts. The study identified differential metal contamination between blood and scute samples, which could help illuminate temporal exposure to trace elements in turtle individuals. We also found that some conventional biomarkers were related to trace element exposure, while the proteome responded differently to various contaminant mixtures. Immune processes, cellular organization, and metabolism were impacted, indicating that contaminant mixtures in the wild would have an effect on turtle's health. Fifteen biomarker candidates associated with strong molecular responses of sea turtle to trace element contamination are proposed for future long-term monitoring. The findings emphasize the importance of using proteomic approaches to detect subtle physiological responses to contaminants in the wild and support the need for non-targeted analysis of trace elements in the biomonitoring of sea turtle health.

Implementing effective conservation measures to manage migratory populations is challenging, especially in a relatively inaccessible dynamic environment such as the ocean. With limited financial and human resources, efforts must be intelligently prioritized to achieve conservation success and reduce uncertainties of conservation efforts. The southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) hosts some of the world’s most important breeding grounds for the Critically Endangered hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata . However, knowledge gaps remain about the movement patterns of this species. Between 2007 and 2022, we deployed 17 satellite tags onto hawksbill turtles from scattered locations in the SWIO: 16 nesting females—Granitic Islands, Seychelles (n = 9); north Madagascar (n = 5); Moheli, Comoros (n = 1); Juan de Nova, Terres australes et antarctiques françaises (n = 1)—and 1 female bycaught in fisheries (east Madagascar). We found strong variability in migratory movements amongst individuals, particularly in terms of distance and movement persistence. Detailed analysis of movement persistence reveals that these individuals behave differently in neritic and oceanic habitats, with a lower movement persistence in neritic habitats. We identified a total of 12 foraging areas scattered throughout the SWIO, both in coastal and open-sea neritic habitats. These results reinforce the need to consider the importance of neritic habitats, for both migration and foraging, in conservation policies. The quantification of the degree of migratory variability is particularly important to developing conservation plans and strategies at both the national and international level, including the delineation of regional management units (RMUs) in the Indian Ocean.

The increase in trace element concentrations in the aquatic environment due to anthropogenic activities, urges the need for their monitoring and potential toxicity, persistence, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification at different trophic levels. Gilthead seabream is a species of commercial importance in the Mediterranean Sea, both for the aquaculture and fisheries sectors, however very little is known about their trace element contamination accumulation and the resulting effect on their health status. In the present study, 135 juveniles were collected from seven coastal lagoons known to be essential nursery areas for this species. We measured seventeen different inorganic contaminants at the individual level in fish muscle (namely Al, As, Be, Bi, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Li, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Sr, Ti, Tl and Zn). Our results revealed the accumulation of multiple trace elements in individuals and distinct contamination signatures between lagoons which might lead to contrasted quality as nurseries for juveniles of numerous ecologically and economically relevant fish species in addition to seabreams. We further evaluated the potential adverse effect of these complex contamination mixtures on the liver (the main organ implicated in the metabolism of xenobiotics) and red muscle (a highly metabolic organ) using a proteomic approach. Alterations in cellular organization pathways and protein transport were detected in both tissues (albeit they were not similarly regulated). Chromosome organization and telomere maintenance in the liver appeared to be affected by contaminant mixture which could increase mortality, age-related disease risk and shorter lifetime expectancy for these juveniles. Red muscle proteome also demonstrated an upregulation of pathways involved in metabolism in response to contamination which raises the issue of potential energy allocation trade-offs between the organisms' main functions such as reproduction and growth. This study provides new insights into the cellular and molecular responses of seabreams to environmental pollution and proposed biomarkers of health effects of trace elements that could serve as a starting point for larger-scale biomonitoring programs.

Offshore wind farms (OWF) are a rapidly expanding renewable energy source, but their effects on marine wildlife need further investigation. These infrastructures form new artificial habitats that may modify the behaviour and spatial distribution of fish species. Among the species likely to be affected, benthic sharks occupying coastal habitats are particularly exposed to the development of OWF, especially as electrosensitive species. This study used passive acoustic telemetry to investigate the behaviour of a benthic shark, the lesser-spotted dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula, within France's first operational OWF. Most tagged sharks remained in the vicinity of the OWF post-release, exhibiting site fidelity and seasonal residency with reduced presence during winter when water temperatures are the lowest. The primary site frequented is a monopile with scour protection on soft substrate, offering potential shelters and food sources. This study provides new insights into the species' ecology and contributes to improving our understanding of how anthropogenic structure installation in the marine environment affects the behaviour of S. canicula.

Loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta ) use both oceanic and neritic habitats depending on their life stage, eventually undertaking an ontogenetic shift. Juveniles likely start foraging in a purely opportunistic manner and later seek resources more actively. In the Indian Ocean, it is still unclear where oceanic-stage individuals go, what they do, and importantly where they forage. Yet, such information is crucial to protect this endangered species from anthropogenic threats such as bycatch in fisheries. To address this, 67 individuals (66 late juveniles and one adult) bycaught in the open ocean were equipped with satellite tags and released in the Southwestern Indian Ocean between 2008 and 2021. Most individuals traveled to the Northwestern Indian Ocean where they used neritic habitats of the continental shelf (i.e., largely between 0 and 200-m depth). Using hidden Markov models, we identified three types of movements likely associated with traveling, wandering, and foraging behaviors. We found that the movement characteristics of these behaviors differ depending on turtles’ target destination and habitat (oceanic vs neritic), highlighting different strategies of habitat use among individuals of presumably the same life stage (late juveniles). The turtles that traveled to the Northwestern Indian Ocean encountered warmer waters (mean = 27.6°C, min. = 20.6°C, max. = 33.1°C) than their counterparts remaining in the Southern Hemisphere (mean = 22.5°C, min. = 14.6°C, max. = 29.7°C) but were found foraging at locations with comparable biomass of potential prey (mean = 2.5 g C m -2 , min. = 0.5 g C m -2 , max. = 10.4 g C m -2 ) once in the Northern Hemisphere. It remains obscure why these individuals undertook a trans-equatorial migration. Once in neritic habitats, the proportion of time spent traveling was considerably reduced (from 33% to 19%) and allocated to foraging instead. In light of this, it is very likely that the individuals migrated to the Northwestern Indian Ocean to undergo an oceanic-to-neritic ontogenetic shift. Our study sheds light on the behavioral ecology of loggerhead turtles and identifies important foraging areas in the Western Indian Ocean, with the top-three most densely used ones being the Gulf of Oman, the Central Somali Coast, and the Western Arabian Sea.

Multifactorial studies assessing the cumulative effects of natural and anthropogenic stressors on individual stress response are crucial to understand how organisms and populations cope with environmental change. We tested direct and indirect causal pathways through which environmental stressors affect the stress response of wild gilthead seabream in Mediterranean costal lagoons using an integrative PLS-PM approach. We integrated information on 10 environmental variables and 36 physiological variables into seven latent variables reflecting lagoons features and fish health. These variables concerned fish lipid reserves, somatic structure, inorganic contaminant loads, and individual trophic and stress response levels. This modelling approach allowed explaining 30 % of the variance within these 46 variables considered. More importantly, 54 % of fish stress response was explained by the dependent lagoon features, fish age, fish diet, fish reserve, fish structure and fish contaminant load latent variables included in our model. This integrative study sheds light on how individuals deal with contrasting environments and multiple ecological pressures.

While scientists have been monitoring the movements and diving behaviour of sea turtles using Argos platform terminal transmitters for decades, the precise navigational mechanisms used by these animals remain an open question. Until now, active swimming motion has been derived from total motion by subtracting surface or subsurface modelled ocean currents, following the approximation of a quasi-two-dimensional surface layer migration. This study, based on tracking and diving data collected from 25 late-juvenile loggerhead turtles released from Reunion Island during their pre-reproductive migration, demonstrates the importance of considering the subsurface presence of the animals. Using a piecewise constant heading model, we investigate navigation strategy using daily time-at-depth distributions and three-dimensional currents to calculate swimming velocity. Our results are consistent with a map and compass strategy in which swimming movements follow straight courses at a stable swimming speed (approx. 0.5 m s(-1)), intermittently segmented by course corrections. This strategy, previously hypothesized for post-nesting green and hawksbill turtles, had never been observed in juvenile loggerheads. These results confirm a common open-ocean navigation mechanism across ages and species and highlight the importance of considering diving behaviour in most studies of sea turtle spatial ecology.

The green turtle, Chelonia mydas , is a migratory marine species with a circumglobal distribution in tropical and temperate waters. Its natal homing behavior leads to a complex genetic structure with genetically differentiated populations that breed separately and mix within the same foraging grounds. Delineating the boundaries of these populations and their connectivity to feeding grounds is important for the management of this species, classified as endangered on the IUCN red list. Here, we examined the genetic structure and the origin of the green turtle in French Polynesia with 239 samples collected during nesting or hatchling events and 204 samples collected outside of nesting events, across 21 islands. Amplification of the 770pb mtDNA control region fragment, the standard base used to characterize haplotype diversity in this species, revealed 23 haplotypes including three novel ones, belonging to 6 different lineages. Haplotype diversity in the rookeries was 0.615, and nucleotide diversity was 0.019, values similar to those in the North West Pacific and Western Indian Oceans, two regions recognized as genetic diversity hotspots for C. mydas . The genetic structure between the Leeward and Windward Islands of the Society archipelago was found to be significant with pairwise F st index and φ st distance. Island groups (Windward Islands, Leeward Islands, Tuamotu) were genetically different from all other identified Pacific management units, with a weak differentiation between American Samoa and Leeward Islands. A mixed-stock analysis for the French Polynesian mixture revealed an exclusive contribution from the French Polynesian rookeries, with negligible input from the other Pacific populations. This study provides the first assessment of the genetic structure of green turtle populations within French Polynesia and fills an essential data gap regarding the genetic diversity of the species and its connectivity to other feeding grounds in the Pacific Ocean. The French Polynesian populations appear to be important contributors to the overall genetic diversity of the species, isolated from other Pacific populations, thus making them essential within the Pacific region. These results have important implications for the conservation of the species at both local and regional scales.

In the Gulf of Lion (NW Mediterranean), fish species such as gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata, European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax, and salema Sarpa salpa show seasonal occupation of coastal lagoons, presumably as feeding grounds during their adult life stage. The role of the lagoons in these species' life cycles remains unknown, particularly with respect to their residency, space-use, and inter-annual fidelity. Using acoustic telemetry, the movements of 72 seabream, 58 seabass, and 81 salema were monitored over four years within Prevost Lagoon (Herault Department, Occitania Region), to characterize (1) the main seasonal patterns of space use inside the lagoon and (2) their annual migrations between the lagoon and the sea. Overall, all three species were highly resident in the lagoon during the spring/summer foraging season; seabass was the only species that also dis-played high residency to the lagoon throughout the winter breeding season. The three species showed differences in their space use, although they all mainly inhabited the deep lagoon centre and adjacent shellfish farms, with very small individual home ranges (mean +/- SD, 0.12 +/- 0.06 km(2) over all species). All species showed some inter-annual fidelity to the lagoon (>43% at minimum for seabream) although these fidelity rates were probably underestimated due to fishing mortality, which is probably high during the winter breeding season. Overall, this study reveals that coastal lagoons are key foraging habitats for these species in the Gulf of Lion. The high residency and inter-annual fidelity suggest that any increase of anthropogenic pressure within the lagoon could negatively impact these fish populations. Therefore, protection of such productive habitats could be beneficial for long-term management of emblematic coastal species and the fisheries that they support.

Although published literature regarding the 5 species of marine turtle found along the continental African east coast has grown substantially over the last decades, a comprehensive synthesis of their status and ecology is lacking. Using a mixed methods approach, which combined an exhaustive literature review and expert elicitation, we assessed the distribution and magnitude of nesting, foraging areas, connectivity, and anthropogenic threats for these species in Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa. A complex pattern of nesting sites, foraging areas, and migration pathways emerged that identified areas of high importance in all 5 countries, although significant data gaps remain, especially for Somalia. Illegal take, bycatch, and loss of foraging and nesting habitat were identified as the most serious anthropogenic threats. Although these threats are broadly similar along most of the coast, robust data that enable quantification of the impacts are scarce. Experts identified regional strengths and opportunities, as well as impediments to turtle conservation. Topics such as legislation and enforcement, collaboration, local stakeholders, and funding are discussed, and future directions suggested. Given the projected growth in human population along the continental African east coast and expected accompanying development, anthropogenic pressures on turtle populations are set to increase. Stronger regional collaboration and coordination within conservation and research efforts are needed if current and future challenges are to be tackled effectively.

Despite the large number of species distribution modelling (SDM) applications driven by tracking data, individual information is most of the time neglected and traditional SDM approaches commonly focus on predicting the potential distribution at the species or population-level. By running classical SDMs (population approach) with mixed models including a random factor to account for the variability attributable to individual (individual approach), we propose an innovative five-steps framework to predict the potential and individual-level distributions of mobile species using GPS data collected from green turtles. Pseudo-absences were randomly generated following an environmentally-stratified procedure. A negative exponential dispersal kernel was incorporated into the individual model to account for spatial fidelity, while five environmental variables derived from high-resolution Lidar and hyperspectral data were used as predictors of the species distribution in generalized linear models. Both approaches showed a strong predictive power (mean: AUC > 0.93, CBI > 0.88) and goodness-of-fit (0.6 < adjusted R-2 < 0.9), but differed geographically with favorable habitats restricted around the tagging locations for the individual approach whereas favorable habitats from the population approach were more widespread. Our innovative way to combine predictions from both approaches into a single map provides a unique scientific baseline to support conservation planning and management of many taxa. Our framework is easy to implement and brings new opportunities to exploit existing tracking dataset, while addressing key ecological questions such as inter-individual plasticity and social interactions.