Title
Distribution of foraging habitats of male loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) as revealed by stable isotopes and satellite telemetry
Date Issued
01 June 2012
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Universidad de Florida
Abstract
Most studies on the foraging ecology of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) have focused on adult females and juveniles. Little is known about the foraging patterns of adult male loggerheads. We analyzed tissues for carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ 13C and δ 15N) from 29 adult male loggerheads tracked with satellite transmitters from one breeding area in Florida, USA, to evaluate their foraging habitats in the Northwest Atlantic (NWA). Our study revealed large variations in δ 13C and δ 15N and a correlation between both δ 13C and δ 15N and the latitude to which the loggerheads traveled after the mating season, thus reflecting a geographic pattern in the isotopic signatures. Variation in δ 13C and δ 15N can be explained by differences in food web baseline isotopic signatures rather than differences in loggerhead trophic levels. Stable isotope analysis may help elucidate residency and migration patterns and identify foraging sea turtle subpopulations in the NWA due to the isotopically distinct habitats used by these highly migratory organisms. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.
Start page
1255
End page
1267
Volume
159
Issue
6
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
OceanografÃa, HidrologÃa, Recursos hÃdricos
BiologÃa marina, BiologÃa de agua dulce, LimnologÃa
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84860640796
Source
Marine Biology
ISSN of the container
00253162
Source funding
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Sponsor(s)
Acknowledgments We thank Capt. Lindsey Parker and the crew of the RV Georgia Bulldog, A. Segars, J. Byrd, and K. Mazzarella for invaluable support during Weldwork. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Knight Vision Foundation provided funding support for this project. For comments on earlier versions of the manuscript, we thank L.C. Majure and H. B. Vander Zanden. We also thank J. Curtis and the Stable Isotope Lab at the University of Florida for assistance with stable isotope analysis. We are grateful to H. B. Vander Zanden and J. Nifong for sharing unpublished data, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments. Turtle samples were collected in compliance with the National Marine Fisheries Service (Section 10(A)(1)(a) Permit #1540), Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (Marine Turtle Permit #163) and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of Florida.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción CientÃfica
Scopus