Shark conservation must go beyond simply protecting shark populations—it must prioritize protecting the ecological roles of sharks, according to new research published in Science.

The problem is shark abundance has plummeted by 71% for oceanic species in the past 50 years. Populations of the top five reef shark species have been depleted by 63%.

The issue of shark conservation becomes all the more critical as global temperatures increase, leading some sharks to head into new areas where they can find the temperatures they thrive in.