Trophic ecology of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica: integrating esophageal lavage and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) analysis

ABSTRACT Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), considered Critically Endangered, have several small populations in the Eastern Pacific (EP). Knowledge about their diet and habitat use can aid in developing conservation strategies and promoting population recovery in the region. Although consid...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Méndez-Salgado,Estefania, Chacón-Chaverri,Didiher, Fonseca,Luis G., Seminoff,Jeffrey A.
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Facultad de Recursos Naturales. Escuela de Ciencias del Mar 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-560X2020000100114
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
id oai:scielo:S0718-560X2020000100114
record_format dspace
spelling oai:scielo:S0718-560X20200001001142020-05-25Trophic ecology of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica: integrating esophageal lavage and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) analysisMéndez-Salgado,EstefaniaChacón-Chaverri,DidiherFonseca,Luis G.Seminoff,Jeffrey A. Eretmochelys imbricata marine turtles diet resource requirements eastern Pacific ABSTRACT Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), considered Critically Endangered, have several small populations in the Eastern Pacific (EP). Knowledge about their diet and habitat use can aid in developing conservation strategies and promoting population recovery in the region. Although considered a spongivore in the Caribbean, data from the EP region indicate that hawksbills consume a wide array of prey species, including angiosperms. We used two approaches to study the diet of hawksbills at Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica: oesophageal lavage and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) analysis of bulk skin tissue and blood plasma. Lavage samples collected from 41 turtles revealed macroalgae as the predominant diet item (Rw = 20.22), followed by sea snails and excavating worms. Stable isotope values for blood plasma from 44 turtles ranged from −23.0‰ to −15.7‰ for δ13C and 6.9‰ to 10.4‰ for δ15N, whereas values for skin tissue were −20.4‰ to −13.9‰ and 9.3‰ to 11.0‰ for δ13C and δ15N, respectively. We compared these isotope values with those of five potential prey groups (sponge, sea snail, excavating worm, mangrove, macroalgae) using a multisource stable isotope mixing model analysis in R (SIAR). Our results indicated that multiple prey resources are important for hawksbills in Golfo Dulce, where sea snails, sponges and excavating worms contributed up to 63% of the assimilated diet per individual, and mangrove and macroalgae up to 50%. These data show that hawksbills in Golfo Dulce, and perhaps the wider EP region, are omnivorous, underscoring the importance for considering alternative habitats, aside of coral reefs, for its management and restoration.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessPontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Facultad de Recursos Naturales. Escuela de Ciencias del MarLatin american journal of aquatic research v.48 n.1 20202020-03-01text/htmlhttp://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-560X2020000100114en10.3856/vol48-issue1-fulltext-2230
institution Scielo Chile
collection Scielo Chile
language English
topic Eretmochelys imbricata
marine turtles
diet
resource requirements
eastern Pacific
spellingShingle Eretmochelys imbricata
marine turtles
diet
resource requirements
eastern Pacific
Méndez-Salgado,Estefania
Chacón-Chaverri,Didiher
Fonseca,Luis G.
Seminoff,Jeffrey A.
Trophic ecology of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica: integrating esophageal lavage and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) analysis
description ABSTRACT Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), considered Critically Endangered, have several small populations in the Eastern Pacific (EP). Knowledge about their diet and habitat use can aid in developing conservation strategies and promoting population recovery in the region. Although considered a spongivore in the Caribbean, data from the EP region indicate that hawksbills consume a wide array of prey species, including angiosperms. We used two approaches to study the diet of hawksbills at Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica: oesophageal lavage and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) analysis of bulk skin tissue and blood plasma. Lavage samples collected from 41 turtles revealed macroalgae as the predominant diet item (Rw = 20.22), followed by sea snails and excavating worms. Stable isotope values for blood plasma from 44 turtles ranged from −23.0‰ to −15.7‰ for δ13C and 6.9‰ to 10.4‰ for δ15N, whereas values for skin tissue were −20.4‰ to −13.9‰ and 9.3‰ to 11.0‰ for δ13C and δ15N, respectively. We compared these isotope values with those of five potential prey groups (sponge, sea snail, excavating worm, mangrove, macroalgae) using a multisource stable isotope mixing model analysis in R (SIAR). Our results indicated that multiple prey resources are important for hawksbills in Golfo Dulce, where sea snails, sponges and excavating worms contributed up to 63% of the assimilated diet per individual, and mangrove and macroalgae up to 50%. These data show that hawksbills in Golfo Dulce, and perhaps the wider EP region, are omnivorous, underscoring the importance for considering alternative habitats, aside of coral reefs, for its management and restoration.
author Méndez-Salgado,Estefania
Chacón-Chaverri,Didiher
Fonseca,Luis G.
Seminoff,Jeffrey A.
author_facet Méndez-Salgado,Estefania
Chacón-Chaverri,Didiher
Fonseca,Luis G.
Seminoff,Jeffrey A.
author_sort Méndez-Salgado,Estefania
title Trophic ecology of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica: integrating esophageal lavage and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) analysis
title_short Trophic ecology of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica: integrating esophageal lavage and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) analysis
title_full Trophic ecology of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica: integrating esophageal lavage and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) analysis
title_fullStr Trophic ecology of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica: integrating esophageal lavage and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) analysis
title_full_unstemmed Trophic ecology of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica: integrating esophageal lavage and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) analysis
title_sort trophic ecology of hawksbill turtles (eretmochelys imbricata) in golfo dulce, costa rica: integrating esophageal lavage and stable isotope (δ13c, δ15n) analysis
publisher Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Facultad de Recursos Naturales. Escuela de Ciencias del Mar
publishDate 2020
url http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-560X2020000100114
work_keys_str_mv AT mendezsalgadoestefania trophicecologyofhawksbillturtleseretmochelysimbricataingolfodulcecostaricaintegratingesophageallavageandstableisotope94813c94815nanalysis
AT chaconchaverrididiher trophicecologyofhawksbillturtleseretmochelysimbricataingolfodulcecostaricaintegratingesophageallavageandstableisotope94813c94815nanalysis
AT fonsecaluisg trophicecologyofhawksbillturtleseretmochelysimbricataingolfodulcecostaricaintegratingesophageallavageandstableisotope94813c94815nanalysis
AT seminoffjeffreya trophicecologyofhawksbillturtleseretmochelysimbricataingolfodulcecostaricaintegratingesophageallavageandstableisotope94813c94815nanalysis
_version_ 1714205231676391424