Isotope Analysis Reveals Foraging Area Dichotomy for Atlantic Leatherback Turtles
Background: The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) has undergone a dramatic decline over the last 25 years, and this is believed to be primarily the result of mortality associated with fisheries bycatch followed by egg and nesting female harvest. Atlantic leatherback turtles undertake long mi...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.282.1109 |
id |
ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.282.1109 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.282.1109 2023-05-15T17:33:46+02:00 Isotope Analysis Reveals Foraging Area Dichotomy for Atlantic Leatherback Turtles Stéphane Caut Elodie Guirlet Elena Angulo Krishna Das Marc Girondot The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives application/zip http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.282.1109 en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.282.1109 Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/bb/9e/PLoS_ONE_2008_Mar_26_3(3)_e1845.tar.gz text ftciteseerx 2016-01-07T21:07:23Z Background: The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) has undergone a dramatic decline over the last 25 years, and this is believed to be primarily the result of mortality associated with fisheries bycatch followed by egg and nesting female harvest. Atlantic leatherback turtles undertake long migrations across ocean basins from subtropical and tropical nesting beaches to productive frontal areas. Migration between two nesting seasons can last 2 or 3 years, a time period termed the remigration interval (RI). Recent satellite transmitter data revealed that Atlantic leatherbacks follow two major dispersion patterns after nesting season, through the North Gulf Stream area or more eastward across the North Equatorial Current. However, information on the whole RI is lacking, precluding the accurate identification of feeding areas where conservation measures may need to be applied. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using stable isotopes as dietary tracers we determined the characteristics of feeding grounds of leatherback females nesting in French Guiana. During migration, 3-year RI females differed from 2-year RI females in their isotope values, implying differences in their choice of feeding habitats (offshore vs. more coastal) and foraging latitude (North Atlantic vs. West African coasts, respectively). Egg-yolk and blood isotope values are correlated in nesting females, indicating that egg analysis is a useful tool for assessing isotope values in these turtles, including adults when not available. Text North Atlantic Unknown |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
ftciteseerx |
language |
English |
description |
Background: The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) has undergone a dramatic decline over the last 25 years, and this is believed to be primarily the result of mortality associated with fisheries bycatch followed by egg and nesting female harvest. Atlantic leatherback turtles undertake long migrations across ocean basins from subtropical and tropical nesting beaches to productive frontal areas. Migration between two nesting seasons can last 2 or 3 years, a time period termed the remigration interval (RI). Recent satellite transmitter data revealed that Atlantic leatherbacks follow two major dispersion patterns after nesting season, through the North Gulf Stream area or more eastward across the North Equatorial Current. However, information on the whole RI is lacking, precluding the accurate identification of feeding areas where conservation measures may need to be applied. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using stable isotopes as dietary tracers we determined the characteristics of feeding grounds of leatherback females nesting in French Guiana. During migration, 3-year RI females differed from 2-year RI females in their isotope values, implying differences in their choice of feeding habitats (offshore vs. more coastal) and foraging latitude (North Atlantic vs. West African coasts, respectively). Egg-yolk and blood isotope values are correlated in nesting females, indicating that egg analysis is a useful tool for assessing isotope values in these turtles, including adults when not available. |
author2 |
The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
format |
Text |
author |
Stéphane Caut Elodie Guirlet Elena Angulo Krishna Das Marc Girondot |
spellingShingle |
Stéphane Caut Elodie Guirlet Elena Angulo Krishna Das Marc Girondot Isotope Analysis Reveals Foraging Area Dichotomy for Atlantic Leatherback Turtles |
author_facet |
Stéphane Caut Elodie Guirlet Elena Angulo Krishna Das Marc Girondot |
author_sort |
Stéphane Caut |
title |
Isotope Analysis Reveals Foraging Area Dichotomy for Atlantic Leatherback Turtles |
title_short |
Isotope Analysis Reveals Foraging Area Dichotomy for Atlantic Leatherback Turtles |
title_full |
Isotope Analysis Reveals Foraging Area Dichotomy for Atlantic Leatherback Turtles |
title_fullStr |
Isotope Analysis Reveals Foraging Area Dichotomy for Atlantic Leatherback Turtles |
title_full_unstemmed |
Isotope Analysis Reveals Foraging Area Dichotomy for Atlantic Leatherback Turtles |
title_sort |
isotope analysis reveals foraging area dichotomy for atlantic leatherback turtles |
url |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.282.1109 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/bb/9e/PLoS_ONE_2008_Mar_26_3(3)_e1845.tar.gz |
op_relation |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.282.1109 |
op_rights |
Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
_version_ |
1766132380944302080 |