Journal article
Oceanic loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta associate with thermal fronts: Evidence from the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem
Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol.519, pp.195-207
2015
Abstract
Oceanographic fronts are physical interfaces between water masses that differ in properties such as temperature, salinity, turbidity and chlorophyll a enrichment. Bio-physical coupling along fronts can lead to the development of pelagic biodiversity hotspots. A diverse range of marine vertebrates have been shown to associate with fronts, using them as foraging and migration habitats. Elucidation of the ecological significance of fronts generates a better understanding of marine ecosystem functioning, conferring opportunities to improve management of anthropogenic activities in the oceans. This study presents novel insights into the oceanographic drivers of habitat use in a population of marine turtles characterised by an oceanic-neritic foraging dichotomy. Using satellite tracking data from adult female loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta nesting at Cape Verde (n = 12), we tested the hypothesis that oceanic-foraging loggerheads associate with mesocale (10s to 100s of km) thermal fronts. We used high-resolution (1 km) composite front mapping to characterise frontal activity in the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem over 2 temporal scales: (1) seasonal front frequency and (2) 7 d front metrics. Our use-availability analysis indicated that oceanic loggerheads show a preference for the highly productive upwelling region between Cape Verde and mainland Africa, an area of intense frontal activity. Within the upwelling region, turtles appear to forage epipelagically around mesoscale thermal fronts, exploiting profitable foraging opportunities resulting from physical aggregation of prey. © Inter-Research 2015.
Details
- Title
- Oceanic loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta associate with thermal fronts: Evidence from the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem
- Authors
- Kylie L Scales (Author) - Plymouth Marine Laboratory, United KingdomP I Miller (Author) - Plymouth Marine Laboratory, United KingdomN Varo-Cruz (Author) - Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, SpainD J Hodgson (Author) - University of Exeter, United KingdomL A Hawkes (Author) - University of Exeter, United KingdomB J Godley (Author) - University of Exeter, United Kingdom
- Publication details
- Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol.519, pp.195-207
- Publisher
- Inter-Research
- Date published
- 2015
- DOI
- 10.3354/meps11075
- ISSN
- 0171-8630
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2015 Inter-Research. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450513802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
24 File views/ downloads
616 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Ecology
- Marine & Freshwater Biology
- Oceanography
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites