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Foraging areas differentially affect reproductive output and interpretation of trends in abundance of loggerhead turtles

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Abstract

Diet items and habitat constitute some of the environmental resources that may be used differently by individuals within a population. Long-term fidelity by individuals to particular resources exemplifies individual specialization, a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly recognized across a wide range of species. Less is understood about the consequences of such specialization. Here, we investigate the effects of differential foraging ground use on reproductive output in 183 loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) nesting at Wassaw Island, Georgia (31.89°N, 80.97°W), between 2004 and 2011 with resulting possible fitness effects. Stable isotope analysis was used to assign the adult female loggerheads to one of three foraging areas in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. Our data indicate that foraging area preference influences the size, fecundity, and breeding periodicity of adult female loggerhead turtles. We also found that the proportion of turtles originating from each foraging area varied significantly among the years examined. The change in the number of nesting females across the years of the study was not a result of uniform change from all foraging areas. We develop a novel approach to assess differential contributions of various foraging aggregations to changes in abundance of a sea turtle nesting aggregation using stable isotopes. Our approach can provide an improved understanding of the influences on the causes of increasing or decreasing population trends and allow more effective monitoring for these threatened species and other highly migratory species.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank J. Curtis for stable isotope analysis, the US Fish and Wildlife Service Savannah Costal Refuges, the staff, volunteers, and supporters of the Caretta Research Project, as well as J.Y. Georges and one anonymous reviewer for comments that improved the manuscript. Samples were collected and processed in compliance with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the University of Florida.

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The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.

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Author notes

  1. Hannah B. Vander Zanden

    Present address: Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, 115 S 1460 E, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research and Department of Biology, University of Florida, PO Box 118525, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Hannah B. Vander Zanden, Joseph B. Pfaller, Kimberly J. Reich, Mariela Pajuelo, Alan B. Bolten, Michael G. Frick & Karen A. Bjorndal

  2. Caretta Research Project, PO Box 9841, Savannah, GA, 31412, USA

    Joseph B. Pfaller & Kristina L. Williams

  3. Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University, Galveston, TX, 77553, USA

    Kimberly J. Reich

  4. Daniel B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30605, USA

    Brian M. Shamblin & Campbell J. Nairn

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  1. Hannah B. Vander Zanden
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Vander Zanden, H.B., Pfaller, J.B., Reich, K.J. et al. Foraging areas differentially affect reproductive output and interpretation of trends in abundance of loggerhead turtles. Mar Biol 161, 585–598 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-013-2361-y

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