Assessments of surface-pelagic drift communities and behavior of early juvenile sea turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico
Knowledge of species distribution and habitat associations are essential for conservation measures. Such information is lacking for many marine species due to their occupancy of broad and ephemeral habitats that are difficult to access for study. Sea turtles, specifically the surface-pelagic juvenil...
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ftusouthflorida:oai:digitalcommons.usf.edu:etd-6561 2023-07-30T04:05:38+02:00 Assessments of surface-pelagic drift communities and behavior of early juvenile sea turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico Hardy, Robert F. 2014-10-23T07:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/5367 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/etd/article/6561/viewcontent/Hardy_usf_0206M_12579.pdf unknown Digital Commons @ University of South Florida https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/5367 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/etd/article/6561/viewcontent/Hardy_usf_0206M_12579.pdf default USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations critical habitat developmental habitat Landsat remote sensing Sargassum satellite telemetry Marine Biology Oceanography thesis 2014 ftusouthflorida 2023-07-13T21:44:55Z Knowledge of species distribution and habitat associations are essential for conservation measures. Such information is lacking for many marine species due to their occupancy of broad and ephemeral habitats that are difficult to access for study. Sea turtles, specifically the surface-pelagic juvenile stage of some species, are a group for which significant knowledge gaps remain surrounding their distribution and habitat use. Recent research has confirmed the long-standing hypothesis that the surface-pelagic juvenile stage occurs within surface-pelagic drift communities (SPDC). Within the North Atlantic and surrounding basins, the holopelagic macroalgae Sargassum spp. dominates SPDC and serves as a remotely-detectable indicator of SPDC. The present study focuses on surface-pelagic habitats of four sea turtle species and addresses knowledge gaps using two approaches: habitat mapping and behavioral examination. Remote sensing techniques were used to identify SPDC, and satellite telemetry to examine behavior. This work was conducted in three parts and is presented in three chapters. Imagery collected from the Landsat satellites (5 and 7) was used to quantify the area of SPDC (km2). Approximately 1,800 Landsat images collected from 2003–2011 were examined for SPDC. The first chapter discusses the abundance, seasonality, and distribution of SPDC within the eastern Gulf of Mexico waters where surface-pelagic green, hawksbill, Kemp’s ridley, and loggerhead turtles are known to occur. SPDC was found year-round within the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the amount of habitat peaked during summer months. The amount of SPDC within the eastern Gulf of Mexico varied annually with peaks in 2005, 2009, and 2011. High concentrations of SPDC were discovered within offshore waters of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico and southern West Florida Shelf. Within the second chapter, the behavior of 10 surface-pelagic juvenile Kemp’s ridleys was examined using satellite telemetry. Using remotely-sensed imagery, the sea surface habitats used by ... Thesis North Atlantic University of South Florida St. Petersburg: Digital USFSP |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of South Florida St. Petersburg: Digital USFSP |
op_collection_id |
ftusouthflorida |
language |
unknown |
topic |
critical habitat developmental habitat Landsat remote sensing Sargassum satellite telemetry Marine Biology Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
critical habitat developmental habitat Landsat remote sensing Sargassum satellite telemetry Marine Biology Oceanography Hardy, Robert F. Assessments of surface-pelagic drift communities and behavior of early juvenile sea turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico |
topic_facet |
critical habitat developmental habitat Landsat remote sensing Sargassum satellite telemetry Marine Biology Oceanography |
description |
Knowledge of species distribution and habitat associations are essential for conservation measures. Such information is lacking for many marine species due to their occupancy of broad and ephemeral habitats that are difficult to access for study. Sea turtles, specifically the surface-pelagic juvenile stage of some species, are a group for which significant knowledge gaps remain surrounding their distribution and habitat use. Recent research has confirmed the long-standing hypothesis that the surface-pelagic juvenile stage occurs within surface-pelagic drift communities (SPDC). Within the North Atlantic and surrounding basins, the holopelagic macroalgae Sargassum spp. dominates SPDC and serves as a remotely-detectable indicator of SPDC. The present study focuses on surface-pelagic habitats of four sea turtle species and addresses knowledge gaps using two approaches: habitat mapping and behavioral examination. Remote sensing techniques were used to identify SPDC, and satellite telemetry to examine behavior. This work was conducted in three parts and is presented in three chapters. Imagery collected from the Landsat satellites (5 and 7) was used to quantify the area of SPDC (km2). Approximately 1,800 Landsat images collected from 2003–2011 were examined for SPDC. The first chapter discusses the abundance, seasonality, and distribution of SPDC within the eastern Gulf of Mexico waters where surface-pelagic green, hawksbill, Kemp’s ridley, and loggerhead turtles are known to occur. SPDC was found year-round within the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the amount of habitat peaked during summer months. The amount of SPDC within the eastern Gulf of Mexico varied annually with peaks in 2005, 2009, and 2011. High concentrations of SPDC were discovered within offshore waters of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico and southern West Florida Shelf. Within the second chapter, the behavior of 10 surface-pelagic juvenile Kemp’s ridleys was examined using satellite telemetry. Using remotely-sensed imagery, the sea surface habitats used by ... |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Hardy, Robert F. |
author_facet |
Hardy, Robert F. |
author_sort |
Hardy, Robert F. |
title |
Assessments of surface-pelagic drift communities and behavior of early juvenile sea turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico |
title_short |
Assessments of surface-pelagic drift communities and behavior of early juvenile sea turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico |
title_full |
Assessments of surface-pelagic drift communities and behavior of early juvenile sea turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico |
title_fullStr |
Assessments of surface-pelagic drift communities and behavior of early juvenile sea turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessments of surface-pelagic drift communities and behavior of early juvenile sea turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico |
title_sort |
assessments of surface-pelagic drift communities and behavior of early juvenile sea turtles in the northern gulf of mexico |
publisher |
Digital Commons @ University of South Florida |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/5367 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/etd/article/6561/viewcontent/Hardy_usf_0206M_12579.pdf |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/5367 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/etd/article/6561/viewcontent/Hardy_usf_0206M_12579.pdf |
op_rights |
default |
_version_ |
1772817673464315904 |