Document of bibliographic reference 232764

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Long-term residence of juvenile loggerhead turtles to foraging grounds: a potential conservation hotspot in the Mediterranean

Abstract

Identifying highly frequented areas is a priority for sea turtle conservation. Although juveniles represent the bulk of the population, a minority of studies have investigated their movement patterns.

Six large juvenile loggerhead turtles that were found and released in an important foraging ground in the Mediterranean, the Tunisian continental shelf were tracked. Tracking data were obtained via satellite for periods ranging from 120 to 225?days and allowed the identification of high use areas.

All turtles generally performed apparently non-directed, wandering movements in waters with a wide range of seafloor depths. They showed clear residential behaviour to the region with no evident seasonal pattern. Core areas of residence were in the neritic zone or on the edge of the continental shelf, largely overlapping among individuals, and were much smaller than residential oceanic areas reported elsewhere.

When integrated into current knowledge, these results suggest an ecological-behavioural model of a gradual shift from a pelagic-vagile to a benthic-sedentary life style with progressive reduction of home ranges.

They also highlight an area of the continental shelf and offshore waters as potential core foraging ground for large juvenile loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean informing future spatial management for loggerhead turtles.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000302351400003

Bibliographic citation

Casale, P.; Broderick, A.C.; Freggi, D.; Mencacci, R.; Fuller, W.J.; Godley, B.J.; Luschi, P. (2012). Long-term residence of juvenile loggerhead turtles to foraging grounds: a potential conservation hotspot in the Mediterranean. Aquat. Conserv. 22(2): 144-154. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2222

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true

Access rights

open access

Is accessible for free

true