Niche overlap and trophic position estimates of multiple sea turtle species cold-stunned in the northwest Atlantic

Niche overlap and trophic position estimates of multiple sea turtle species cold-stunned in the northwest Atlantic | 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 Niche overlap and trophic position estimates of multiple sea turtle species cold-stunned in the northwest Atlantic John Logan, Karen Dourdeville, Kate Choate, James Nielsen, Samir H. Patel, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7312581/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Juvenile Kemp’s ridley ( Lepidochelys kempii ), loggerhead ( Caretta caretta ) and green ( Chelonia mydas ) sea turtles regularly strand following seasonal cold-stunning events in southern New England, but much of their pre-stranding ecology is poorly understood. To determine general trends in foraging preferences, habitat usage, and trophic position we used a combination of bulk (BSIA) and compound-specific (CSIA) stable isotope analyses. Carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) BSIA was performed on whole blood (n = 240) and muscle (n = 340) samples collected from stranded individuals of all three species. Sulfur (δ 34 S) BSIA (whole blood, n = 24; muscle n = 32) and δ 15 N CSIA (whole blood, n = 7; muscle n = 25) were applied to a subset of samples to further infer habitat use and trophic information. Stable isotopic niche overlap and muscle isotope-based trophic position (TP) estimates were similar for the three species, with green (TP BSIA =2.6, TP CSIA =2.9) and loggerheads (TP BSIA =3.1, TP CSIA =3.3) having the lowest overlap and greatest TP separation. Kemp’s ridley had intermediate estimated TP (TP BSIA 2.8, TP CSIA 3.1) and a high degree of overlap with the two other species. Turtle straight carapace length (SCL) was the main predictor of intraspecific stable isotope variation, and δ 15 N increased with SCL for all species and both tissue types. These patterns are consistent with ontogenetic TP increases as well as transition from oceanic to nearshore isoscapes. Higher intraspecific variation in BSIA-based TP estimates relative to CSIA-based estimates as well as variable inter-tissue stable isotope offsets provide evidence of individual variability in residency in nearshore waters prior to stranding. Amino acid Cape Cod Carbon Nitrogen Stable isotope analysis Full Text Supplementary Files TableS1Siber.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revise and Resubmit 17 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 14 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 11 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 06 Aug, 2025 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. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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-7312581","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":514831779,"identity":"f29c2326-1c3c-4fca-935b-4df72a1ee0bf","order_by":0,"name":"John Logan","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYeIFkAYjIfIEWLAYjJlsBwAMIiBOBaeAyI08Lc3nvsAYOBjV3/7J7Pnz/U/JFjEDv8gJnnDx6H9ZxLN2AwSEuecefsNokDxwyMGaTTDJh52/BomZFjJsFgcDiZ4UbuNoYDbAaJDdIJQC0NRGiRv5Hz+MOBfwb1DdLpH/A7DKrFzuBGDoPEwTaDBAbpHANmHjZ8fjljJpFgkJZgeCPNTOJsn7Fhm3ROwcG5ePxi2N5jJvGhwsZe7kby4w8V3+Tk+aXTNz54g8dhhiB/JjAwJML9C3LSAdwaGBjkobQ9PkWjYBSMglEwwgEALxpNq+XYoQEAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0590-7678","institution":"Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"John","middleName":"","lastName":"Logan","suffix":""},{"id":514831780,"identity":"666b0b1f-3f8d-45a4-8b2c-a24438a1d654","order_by":1,"name":"Karen Dourdeville","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Karen","middleName":"","lastName":"Dourdeville","suffix":""},{"id":514831781,"identity":"778017fc-a5eb-4112-9332-e38aef3d673e","order_by":2,"name":"Kate Choate","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kate","middleName":"","lastName":"Choate","suffix":""},{"id":514831782,"identity":"30dd5518-f198-42a9-a773-9c05125c8883","order_by":3,"name":"James Nielsen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"James","middleName":"","lastName":"Nielsen","suffix":""},{"id":514831783,"identity":"a40c8f83-5c38-475e-bc23-38af9ef9f611","order_by":4,"name":"Samir H. 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To determine general trends in foraging preferences, habitat usage, and trophic position we used a combination of bulk (BSIA) and compound-specific (CSIA) stable isotope analyses. Carbon (δ\u003csup\u003e13\u003c/sup\u003eC) and nitrogen (δ\u003csup\u003e15\u003c/sup\u003eN) BSIA was performed on whole blood (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;240) and muscle (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;340) samples collected from stranded individuals of all three species. Sulfur (δ\u003csup\u003e34\u003c/sup\u003eS) BSIA (whole blood, n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;24; muscle n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;32) and δ\u003csup\u003e15\u003c/sup\u003eN CSIA (whole blood, n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;7; muscle n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;25) were applied to a subset of samples to further infer habitat use and trophic information. Stable isotopic niche overlap and muscle isotope-based trophic position (TP) estimates were similar for the three species, with green (TP\u003csub\u003eBSIA\u003c/sub\u003e=2.6, TP\u003csub\u003eCSIA\u003c/sub\u003e=2.9) and loggerheads (TP\u003csub\u003eBSIA\u003c/sub\u003e =3.1, TP\u003csub\u003eCSIA\u003c/sub\u003e=3.3) having the lowest overlap and greatest TP separation. Kemp\u0026rsquo;s ridley had intermediate estimated TP (TP\u003csub\u003eBSIA\u003c/sub\u003e 2.8, TP\u003csub\u003eCSIA\u003c/sub\u003e 3.1) and a high degree of overlap with the two other species. Turtle straight carapace length (SCL) was the main predictor of intraspecific stable isotope variation, and δ\u003csup\u003e15\u003c/sup\u003eN increased with SCL for all species and both tissue types. These patterns are consistent with ontogenetic TP increases as well as transition from oceanic to nearshore isoscapes. Higher intraspecific variation in BSIA-based TP estimates relative to CSIA-based estimates as well as variable inter-tissue stable isotope offsets provide evidence of individual variability in residency in nearshore waters prior to stranding.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Niche overlap and trophic position estimates of multiple sea turtle species cold-stunned in the northwest Atlantic","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-22 16:04:46","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7312581/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revise and Resubmit","date":"2025-11-17T08:28:54+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2025-09-15T14:32:32+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-09-14T13:54:25+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-08-11T07:01:48+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Marine Biology","date":"2025-08-06T15:19:02+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":"d35d6dde-7426-4507-8af2-3bcac1ee0752","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 22nd, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-24T01:03:17+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-22 16:04:46","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7312581","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7312581","identity":"rs-7312581","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}