Post-nesting movements and feeding grounds of a resident East Pacific green turtle Chelonia mydas population from Costa Rica

Blanco, Gabriela S.; Morreale, Stephen J.; Bailey, Helen; Seminoff, Jeffrey A.; Paladino, Frank V.; Spotila, James R.

doi:10.3354/esr00451

Cited by 28 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Consequently, olive ridley turtles have been recorded inhabiting both oceanic and coastal waters depending on inter-annual patterns in food availability (Plotkin, 2010). Lastly, East Pacific green turtles (referred to subsequently only as green turtles), which are primarily herbivorous (Seminoff et al, 2002;Amorocho & Reina, 2007), forage in shallow coastal habitats, such as gulfs or estuary mouths (Blanco et al, 2012;Hart et al, 2015;P. Santidrián Tomillo & N.J. Robinson, unpublished data).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assortative epibiosis of leatherback, olive ridley and green sea turtles in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

et al. 2016

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Sea turtles host a diverse array of epibionts, yet it is not well understood what factors influence epibiont community composition. To test whether epibiont communities of sea turtles are influenced by the hosts’ nesting or foraging habitats, we characterized the epibiota of leatherback, olive ridley and green turtles nesting at a single location on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. We also compared the epibiota of these turtles to conspecific populations nesting elsewhere in the East Pacific. If epibiont communities are influenced by nesting habitats, we predicted that sympatrically nesting turtles would have comparable epibiont taxa. Alternatively, if epibiont communities are influenced by foraging habitats, we predicted the diversity of epibiont taxa should reflect the type and diversity of the hosts’ foraging habitats. We identified 18 epibiont taxa from 18 leatherback, 19 olive ridley and six green turtles. Epibiont diversity was low on leatherbacks (four taxa), but higher for olive ridley and green turtles (12 and nine epibiont taxa respectively). The epibiont communities of olive ridley and green turtles were not statistically different, but both were different from leatherbacks. In addition, conspecific sea turtles from other nesting locations hosted more similar epibiont communities than sympatrically nesting, non-conspecifics. We conclude that epibiont diversity of nesting sea turtles is partially linked to the diversity of their foraging habitats. We also conclude that the surface properties of the skin and carapace of these turtles may contribute to the uniqueness of leatherback turtle epibiont communities and the similarities between olive ridley and green turtle epibiont communities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assortative epibiosis of leatherback, olive ridley and green sea turtles in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

et al. 2016

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“…We partially surveyed season 2010-2011(15 January 15 2011-29 March 2011 and fully covered the seasons 2011-2012 (1 July 2011-30 April 2012) and 2012-2013 (10 August 2012-10 April 2013). During the peak season (November-March), we patrolled the beach at night between 20:00 and 04:00 h and during the low season (September, October and April) between 21:00 and 03:00 h. At night, we marked and identified all turtles encountered and recorded all nesting events.…”

Section: Beach Coveragementioning

confidence: 99%

“…), foraging grounds for green (Blanco et al . ) and hawksbill turtles ( Eretmochelys imbricata ; unpublished information), and the beaches of the Gulf are suitable nesting grounds for green turtles, olive ridleys ( Lepidochelys olivacea ) and leatherback turtles (Cornelius ), and are sporadically used by hawksbill turtles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Gulf of Papagayo is a marine area of high productivity because of frequent occurrence of upwellings (Bianchi 1991;Jim enez 2001). The waters of the Gulf serve as an important internesting habitat for leatherback turtles (Shillinger et al 2010), foraging grounds for green (Blanco et al 2012a) and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata; unpublished information), and the beaches of the Gulf are suitable nesting grounds for green turtles, olive ridleys (Lepidochelys olivacea) and leatherback turtles (Cornelius 1976), and are sporadically used by hawksbill turtles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nesting ecology of East Pacific green turtles at Playa Cabuyal, Gulf of Papagayo, Costa Rica

et al. 2014

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East Pacific green turtles (Chelonia mydas), often referred to as black turtles, are smaller and exhibit a lower reproductive output than other populations of green turtles in the Atlantic, Indian and Western Pacific Oceans. Knowledge of nesting ecology of East Pacific green turtles is limited to general descriptions. We conducted an exhaustive analysis of the nesting ecology of East Pacific green turtles at Playa Cabuyal, North Pacific Costa Rica. Compared with other populations of green turtles, East Pacific turtles exhibited smaller clutch sizes (mean ± SD: 76.9 ± 18.2 eggs per clutch), but the number of clutches (estimated clutch frequency (ECF): 4.3 ± 2.3 clutches) fell within the upper limit reported for green turtles. Clutch size and seasonal reproductive output (409 ± 135 eggs per female), but not ECF, increased with female size. The observed internesting period (OIP) between consecutive oviposition events (mean ± SD: 15.4 ± 2.9 days) increased as the season progressed and was approximately 2 days longer than the mean OIP reported for the species. Most clutches were laid in the upper vegetated part of beach (zone 3, 75%) and within this zone, tended to be located underneath trees (79%). Hatching success of clutches laid underneath trees was significantly higher (0.89 ± 0.17) than that of clutches laid in the exposed areas of zone 3 (0.75 ± 0.33). Mean duration of the nesting process (3:14 h) was on average 45 min longer than previously reported for the species. Frequency of false crawls was high (49% of nesting activities), and nesting success was low (54% of nesting attempts). Poaching of eggs, tourism and predation by dogs were important threats to this population. Conservation actions were being successfully implemented at the local level due to presence of beach patrollers, but official protection is needed for the preservation of the nesting population into the future.

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“…Two chains were run in parallel, each for a total of 30,000 Markov Chain Monte Carlo Samples, with the first 10,000 samples discarded as burn-in, and the remaining samples thinned, retaining every fifth sample to reduce autocorrelation (Blanco et al 2012). …”

Section: Switching State-space Model (Sssm)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Changepoint analysis: a new approach for revealing animal movements and behaviors from satellite telemetry data

et al. 2015

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Abstract. While telemetry is an invaluable tool for tracking animal movement patterns, the data generated by this technique is often challenging to interpret. Here, we addressed this issue by developing a novel method, based on changepoint analysis, which incorporated both the horizontal and vertical movement metrics and compared this output to that from a switching state-space model (SSSM) that categorized behavior based on horizontal movement metrics. We deployed 20 satellite transmitters on postnesting loggerhead turtles at Rethymno, Crete, Greece between 2010 and 2011 to monitor their at-sea behavior. We used both models to identify behavioral changes, such as the switches from migration to foraging, and from foraging to overwintering. The satellite-tracked turtles exhibited three discrete migratory strategies, with 9 turtles migrating southwards to the coast of northern Africa, 6 turtles migrating northwards into the Aegean Sea, and 4 turtles remaining resident in the waters of Crete. The SSSM readily identified the switch from transiting to ARS behavior in most animals, but the CPA model was able to distinguish multiple modes and more subtle shifts in behavior corresponding with shifts from migration to foraging to overwintering behaviors. We have shown that by incorporating vertical movement metrics into the analysis of telemetry data, previously hidden shifts in behavior can be revealed. The resulting increase in ability to discern complex behavioral patterns of animals remotely will likely yield better management and conservation decisions for a wide array of organisms.

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Post-nesting movements and feeding grounds of a resident East Pacific green turtle Chelonia mydas population from Costa Rica

Cited by 28 publications

References 43 publications

Assortative epibiosis of leatherback, olive ridley and green sea turtles in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

Assortative epibiosis of leatherback, olive ridley and green sea turtles in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

Nesting ecology of East Pacific green turtles at Playa Cabuyal, Gulf of Papagayo, Costa Rica

Changepoint analysis: a new approach for revealing animal movements and behaviors from satellite telemetry data

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