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Hawksbill sea turtles in seagrass pastures: success in a peripheral habitat

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Abstract

Hawksbill sea turtles, Eretmochelys imbricata, are closely associated with coral reef and other hard-bottom habitats. Seagrass pastures are peripheral habitats for Caribbean hawksbills. With the decline in quality and quantity of coral reefs, seagrass habitats may become more important for hawksbills. We use data from a 30-year mark-recapture study of hawksbills and green turtles, Chelonia mydas, in the southern Bahamas to assess the quality of a seagrass habitat for hawksbills. Size distribution, residence times, and body condition index for the seagrass hawksbill aggregation are similar to those of hawksbill aggregations over Caribbean reefs. Somatic growth rates of seagrass hawksbills are in the upper range of those reported for reef hawksbills. Based on these parameters, peripheral seagrass habitats can support healthy, productive hawksbill aggregations. During the 30-year study, a sixfold variation in green turtle density in the study area did not affect the productivity or body condition of hawksbills.

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Acknowledgments

We thank K. Reich for conducting the stable isotope analyses, J. Blumenthal for sharing raw data, and P. Eliazar for database management. The long-term study at UCR is in cooperation with the Bahamas National Trust (BNT) and would not have been possible without the assistance of the BNT wardens on Great Inagua: H. Nixon, R. Burrows, J. Nixon, S. Nixon, and T. Major. We are grateful to the Bahamas Department of Marine Resources for their support and permits to conduct research in the Bahamas. The research has been funded by the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, US National Marine Fisheries Service, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Caribbean Conservation Corporation. Morton Bahamas Ltd., the US Coast Guard, and the people of Mathew Town, Inagua, have provided invaluable logistic support. All work was conducted in compliance with the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, University of Florida.

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  1. Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research and Department of Biology, University of Florida, PO Box 118525, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Karen A. Bjorndal & Alan B. Bolten

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  1. Karen A. Bjorndal
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  2. Alan B. Bolten
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Correspondence to Karen A. Bjorndal.

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Communicated by R. Lewison.

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Bjorndal, K.A., Bolten, A.B. Hawksbill sea turtles in seagrass pastures: success in a peripheral habitat. Mar Biol 157, 135–145 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1304-0

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