26033
Complementary skeletochronology and stable isotope analyses offer new insight into juvenile loggerhead sea turtle oceanic stage duration and growth dynamics
Document
Published / External
29718
Loggerhead oceanic stage duration in North Atlantic Ocean from 1984 to 2009 (NCEI Accession 0157929)
Data Set
Completed
2013-10-02
Stage durations are integral to wildlife population models that can inform management, as they influence age at maturation and stage-specific survival rates. To refine oceanic stage duration estimates for western North Atlantic loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta, skeletochronological analysis was conducted on humeri collected in the Azores islands and along the US Atlantic coast. Complementary skeletal growth increment-specific stable isotope analysis was also performed for a sub-set of the humeri, to identify the skeletal growth mark associated with the shift from oceanic to neritic habitat through stable nitrogen isotope (d15N) values and the presence of turtles in inshore waters. Although the transitional growth mark in this sub-sample corresponded to a range of sizes similar to those described in previous studies, mean size at recruitment (55.3 cm straightline carapace length [SCL]) for these turtles was larger than previously estimated. Similarly, while the range of ages at recruitment corresponding both with the transitional growth mark and those yielded by fitting smoothing splines to SCL-at-age data overlapped almost fully with earlier estimates, the mean age estimate (12.4 yr) differed from previous studies. Validated back-calculation of somatic growth rates from skeletal growth marks yielded means and ranges that encompassed those of previous loggerhead growth studies in this geographic area. Generalized additive models and generalized additive mixed models used to assess the potential influence of discrete and continuous covariates on back-calculated growth rates spanning 1984 to 2009 indicated significant effects of age, SCL, calendar year, and d15N, but none for sex or location.
Avens L, Goshe LR, Pajuelo M, Bjorndal KA and others (2013) Complementary skeletochronology and stable isotope analyses offer new insight into juvenile loggerhead sea turtle oceanic stage duration and growth dynamics. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 491:235-251. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10454
10.3354/meps10454
Theme
Age
Theme
Caretta caretta ยท
Theme
Life history
Theme
Ontogenetic habitat shift
Theme
Skeletal growth marks
Theme
protective species
Theme
turtle
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2012-05
Person
Avens, Larisa
larisa.avens@noaa.gov
101 Pivers Island Rd.
Beaufort
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2013
https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2013/491/m491p235.pdf
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2021-04-29
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2021-04-29
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2022-04-29