Ecological niche use varies with sea turtle reproductive age

Ecological niche use varies with sea turtle reproductive age | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Ecological niche use varies with sea turtle reproductive age Alexandra Fireman, Seth P Stapleton, Hannah Vander Zanden, Dong Liang, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3898699/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Oct, 2024 Read the published version in Marine Biology → Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Understanding an organism’s niche and ecological role in its ecosystem is critical for conservation, especially for species that use multiple habitats at different life stages. The hawksbill sea turtle ( Eretmochelys imbricata ) is one such migratory animal that plays an ecologically important role in imperiled coral reef habitats. Although hawksbill resource use strategies (e.g., generalism vs. specialism) in these foraging grounds are poorly understood, stable isotope analysis of carbon ( δ 13 C) and nitrogen ( δ 15 N) can provide information on the trophic niche and foraging location of consumers. Additionally, when a single sample is taken from a tissue that accretes through time, such as keratin, analyses can reveal information on the long-term foraging patterns of individuals. Here, we evaluate resource use strategies for 98 females within a nesting aggregation of hawksbills in Antigua, West Indies (17.159, -61.756). Stable isotope analysis of scute tissue collected from 2017–2019 revealed population-level generalism and varying degrees of individual specialization. Additionally, older turtles displayed overall smaller ranges in isotope values, indicating a narrowing of resource use with increased reproductive age amongst breeding adult females. These findings provide evidence of high variability in hawksbill diet, illustrate differences in ecological niche use across different ages, and highlight the necessity of evaluating multiple life stages to inform the conservation of this critically endangered species. Foraging ecology stable isotope analysis marine turtles coral reefs hawksbill sea turtle Full Text Supplementary Files Supplementarymaterials.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Oct, 2024 Read the published version in Marine Biology → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revise and Resubmit 22 May, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Feb, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 04 Feb, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 25 Jan, 2024 First submitted to journal 24 Jan, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3898699","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":271035528,"identity":"7783e8af-933f-4caa-9642-c23d7a62bb03","order_by":0,"name":"Alexandra 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The hawksbill sea turtle (\u003cem\u003eEretmochelys imbricata\u003c/em\u003e) is one such migratory animal that plays an ecologically important role in imperiled coral reef habitats. Although hawksbill resource use strategies (e.g., generalism vs. specialism) in these foraging grounds are poorly understood, stable isotope analysis of carbon (\u003cem\u003eδ\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e13\u003c/sup\u003eC) and nitrogen (\u003cem\u003eδ\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e15\u003c/sup\u003eN) can provide information on the trophic niche and foraging location of consumers. Additionally, when a single sample is taken from a tissue that accretes through time, such as keratin, analyses can reveal information on the long-term foraging patterns of individuals. Here, we evaluate resource use strategies for 98 females within a nesting aggregation of hawksbills in Antigua, West Indies (17.159, -61.756). Stable isotope analysis of scute tissue collected from 2017\u0026ndash;2019 revealed population-level generalism and varying degrees of individual specialization. Additionally, older turtles displayed overall smaller ranges in isotope values, indicating a narrowing of resource use with increased reproductive age amongst breeding adult females. These findings provide evidence of high variability in hawksbill diet, illustrate differences in ecological niche use across different ages, and highlight the necessity of evaluating multiple life stages to inform the conservation of this critically endangered species.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Ecological niche use varies with sea turtle reproductive age","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-02-06 20:33:09","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3898699/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revise and Resubmit","date":"2024-05-23T01:02:54+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2024-02-05T13:33:12+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2024-02-04T15:15:37+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2024-01-25T20:19:53+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Marine Biology","date":"2024-01-24T19:36:50+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"marine-biology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"mabi","sideBox":"Learn more about [Marine Biology](https://www.springer.com/journal/227)","snPcode":"227","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/227/3","title":"Marine Biology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"74d5b0ab-a57f-4d09-9480-4032ff3b262a","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 6th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-10-21T15:58:31+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-3898699","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-024-04543-x","journal":{"identity":"marine-biology","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Marine Biology"},"publishedOn":"2024-10-17 15:56:53","publishedOnDateReadable":"October 17th, 2024"},"versionCreatedAt":"2024-02-06 20:33:09","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s00227-024-04543-x","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-024-04543-x","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-3898699","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3898699","identity":"rs-3898699","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}