Incongruent long‐term trends of a marine consumer and primary producers in a habitat affected by nutrient pollution

Long, Christopher; Chabot, Ryan M.; El-Khazen, Mia N.; Kelley, Jake R.; Benoît, Céline Mollet-Saint; Mansfield, Katherine

doi:10.1002/ecs2.3553

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…With green turtle populations growing and a key finding of this study being that smaller green turtles in the IRL were more likely to have FP, it might be expected that FP rates would increase over time as the size structure of the IRL shifts toward a higher proportion of small turtles. However, our data did not show an increase in FP rates over time, and notably there was no trend in size structure over time in the IRL during this study (Long et al, 2021).…”

Section: Fibropapillomatosis Disease Dynamicscontrasting

confidence: 87%

“…A short-term tracking study in the IRL showed most turtles had small home ranges at the IRL site (Redfoot & Ehrhart, 2008), but there are no long-term studies on site fidelity in the IRL. Relatively low recapture rates in the IRL (~8%; Long et al, 2021) bring site fidelity into question, but the study site is very small (~1 km 2 ) relative to the useable area of the IRL, which may lead to low recapture rates when considering the broader IRL system as a single foraging aggregation. Additionally, many turtles in this study were recaptured across long periods of time (average time between recaptures was about 1.9 years, with 25 turtles recaptured at least 5 years apart, UCFMTRG, unpublished data), implying some level of long-term site fidelity may exist.…”

Section: Potential For Differential Capture Probability To Affect Hie...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Novel disease state model finds most juvenile green turtles develop and recover from fibropapillomatosis

Kelley

Savage

et al. 2022

Ecosphere

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Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a sea turtle disease characterized by benign tumor development on the skin, eyes, and/or internal organs. It primarily affects juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in coastal foraging sites. The Indian River Lagoon (IRL), Florida, USA, is a coastal green turtle foraging site where the observed FP annual rate averaged 49% between 1983 and 2018. While FP is no longer considered a major cause of sea turtle mortality and most individuals fully recover, the overall dynamics of this disease are poorly understood because prior disease history is unknown for individuals without FP at capture time, and future disease outcome is unknown for individuals with FP at capture time. To better evaluate FP dynamics for green turtles in the IRL, we developed a hierarchical model for predicting disease state change. We used data from 4149 captures of 3700 individual green turtles captured in the IRL. The hierarchical disease state model contained two levels: Level 1 modeled whether an individual would develop FP, and Level 2 modeled disease state progression, including states for pre-FP affliction, active FP affliction, and full recovery from FP. From the hierarchical model, we estimated 99.8% (95% credibility intervals 99.1%-100%) of juvenile green turtles in the IRL developed FP, indicating that nearly every individual in the IRL is affected by this disease. The model also suggested that turtles quickly developed FP upon recruitment to the IRL and then recovered at different rates, with most completely recovering before emigrating from the IRL as they mature. This is the first analysis of long-term sea turtle data suggesting nearly every turtle in an aggregation both develops and recovers from FP.

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Section: Fibropapillomatosis Disease Dynamicscontrasting

confidence: 87%

Section: Potential For Differential Capture Probability To Affect Hie...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel disease state model finds most juvenile green turtles develop and recover from fibropapillomatosis

Kelley

Savage

et al. 2022

Ecosphere

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“…For the juvenile IRL and TRID mixed stocks, the mean SCL from individuals sampled in our study was comparable to the mean sizes previously reported for both sites 37 , 59 . For the rookery MB, the mean size and observed reduction in mean SCL among nesting females are consistent with a trend recently described for this populations 60 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Incorporating distance metrics and temporal trends to refine mixed stock analysis

Stahelin

Hoffman

Quintana‐Ascencio

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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The distribution of marine organisms is shaped by geographic distance and oceanographic features like currents. Among migratory species, individuals from multiple populations may share feeding habitats seasonally or across life stages. Here, we introduce a modification for many-to-many mixed stock models to include distance between breeding and foraging sites as an ecological covariate and evaluate how the composition of green turtle, Chelonia mydas, juvenile mixed stock aggregations changed in response to population growth over time. Our modified many-to-many model is more informative and generally tightens credible intervals over models that do not incorporate distance. Moreover, we identified a decrease in genetic diversity in a Florida nesting site and two juvenile aggregations. Mixed stock aggregations in central Florida have changed from multiple sources to fewer dominant source populations over the past ~ 20 years. We demonstrate that shifts in contributions from source populations to mixed stock aggregations are likely associated with nesting population growth. Furthermore, our results highlight the importance of long-term monitoring and the need for periodical reassessment of reproductive populations and juvenile aggregations. Understanding how mixed stock aggregations change over time and how different life stages are connected is fundamental for the development of successful conservation plans for imperiled species.

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“…in open oceanic habitats for the first years of their life (Reich et al 2007;Witherington et al 2012;Mansfield et al 2021). When they reach a minimum size of 20-25 cm straight-line standard carapace length (nuchal notch-posterior tip) hereafter referred to as SSCL, green turtles undergo ontogenetic diet and habitat shifts (Price et al 2017) and begin feeding primarily on drift macroalgae and seagrass species found in neritic waters (Holloway-Adkins 2001;Redfoot and Ehrhart 2013;Long et al 2021). These "smaller juvenile" green turtles (Small Juveniles) can be found in nearly all nearshore waters around the state of Florida as they grow to maturity (Ehrhart et al 2007;Hart and Fujisaki 2010;Stadler et al 2015;Long et al 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ceriani et al (2015) demonstrated this with the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) rookery located on the Atlantic coast of Florida and their associated foraging grounds. While this relationship has yet to be established for green turtles, Long et al (2021) found that small juvenile green turtles in the Indian River Lagoon of Florida have been dropping in abundance despite the decade plus increase in green turtle nesting numbers nearby (Chaloupka et al 2008). While small juvenile foraging aggregations in the Indian River Lagoon of Florida likely comprise turtles from multiple rookeries and management units (Bass and Witzell 2000), these distinctions have yet to be parsed out, the trends are nevertheless concerning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intraspecific spatial segregation on a green turtle foraging ground in the Florida Keys, USA

Welsh

Mansfield

2022

Mar Biol

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Assessing the distribution, density, and abundance of organisms is essential for conservation and management of imperiled species. Simple counts of sampled individuals are often inadequate to make such estimates. This is especially true for highly mobile marine animals like green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas). We used distance sampling and density surface model techniques to generate estimates of green turtle abundance on foraging grounds at the Eastern Quicksands, located west of Key West, Florida, USA. From 2006 to 2018, we conducted 18 surveys of six standardized transect lines from which we estimated abundances, plotted spatial distributions, and identified spatial segregation of life stages using density surface models and null model analysis. The Eastern Quicksands represent one of the densest foraging aggregations of green turtles worldwide. Spatial segregation of Large Juvenile and Adult turtles was evident, which we hypothesize may be due to benthic habitat preferences and differing predator detection and avoidance strategies among the sea turtle life stages. Given the high green turtle densities in this foraging area, and recent increases in Florida green turtle nesting, combined with anthropogenic stressors to seagrass pastures, we foresee management concerns for long-term sustainability of seagrass at the Eastern Quicksands and recommend that this area be given Critical Habitat designation.

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Incongruent long‐term trends of a marine consumer and primary producers in a habitat affected by nutrient pollution

Abstract: Incongruent long-term trends of a marine consumer and primary producers in a habitat affected by nutrient pollution.

Cited by 10 publications

References 64 publications

Novel disease state model finds most juvenile green turtles develop and recover from fibropapillomatosis

Novel disease state model finds most juvenile green turtles develop and recover from fibropapillomatosis

Incorporating distance metrics and temporal trends to refine mixed stock analysis

Intraspecific spatial segregation on a green turtle foraging ground in the Florida Keys, USA

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