Foraging animals move through the environment to satisfy their requirements for food, rest, reproduction and risk-avoidance. Understanding how animals respond to changing environmental conditions can help to characterise favourable habitat and determine whether they might be motivated to depart when those habitats become unsuitable. Foraging green turtles are typically residents that scarcely move in response to environmental...

Green sea turtles ( Chelonia mydas ) face many threats from anthropogenic activity and are listed as Endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. They spend the majority of their lives in coastal foraging areas, and show strong fidelity to narrow foraging ranges. Understanding the foraging ecology of green turtles is therefore important for their management and con...

This study builds upon the current understanding of green turtle population genetic structure in the Pacific that has largely been based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), by examining nuclear DNA (nDNA) diversity, regional connectivity, and male-mediated gene flow. A total of 1,111 nesting green turtle samples were analyzed with 10 microsatellite markers from 20 Pacific rookeries. Population differentiation (F ST ) was significant...

Globally distributed marine taxa are well suited for investigations of biogeographic impacts on genetic diversity, connectivity, and population demography. The sea turtle genus Lepidochelys includes the wide-ranging and abundant olive ridley ( L. olivacea ), and the geographically restricted and ‘Critically Endangered’ Kemp’s ridley ( L. kempii ). To investigate their historical biogeography, we analyzed a large dataset of mit...

Marine turtles encounter different threats during various life-history stages. Therefore, understanding their movements and spatial distribution is crucial for effectively managing these long-lived migratory organisms. This study combines satellite telemetry data with long-term capture-mark-recapture data derived from flipper tag studies to determine distribution patterns of endangered loggerhead turtles ( Caretta caretta ) du...

The ingestion of plastic by marine turtles is now reported for all species. Small juvenile turtles (including post-hatchling and oceanic juveniles) are thought to be most at risk, due to feeding preferences and overlap with areas of high plastic abundance. Their remote and dispersed life stage, however, results in limited access and assessments. Here, stranded and bycaught specimens from Queensland Australia, Pacific Ocean (PO...

Despite concerns regarding the environmental impacts of microplastics, knowledge of the incidence and levels of synthetic particles in large marine vertebrates is lacking. Here, we utilize an optimized enzymatic digestion methodology, previously developed for zooplankton, to explore whether synthetic particles could be isolated from marine turtle ingesta. We report the presence of synthetic particles in every turtle subjected...

Relocation of eggs is a common strategy for conservation of declining reptilian populations around the world. If individuals exhibit consistency in their nest‐site selection and if nest‐site selection is a heritable trait, relocating eggs deposited in vulnerable locations may impose artificial selection that would maintain traits favoring unsuccessful nest‐site selection. Conversely, if most individuals scatter their nesting e...

Aim To critically review the status of the green sea turtle ( Chelonia mydas ) using the best available scientific studies as there is a prevailing view that this species is globally endangered and its marine ecosystem functions compromised. Location Ogasawara (Japan), Hawaii (USA), Great Barrier Reef (Australia), Florida (USA), Tortuguero (Costa Rica). Methods We compiled seasonal nesting activity data from all reliable conti...

Ecological and genetic studies of marine turtles generally support the hypothesis of natal homing, but leave open the question of the geographical scale of genetic exchange and the capacity of turtles to shift breeding sites. Here we combine analyses of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation and recapture data to assess the geographical scale of individual breeding populations and the distribution of such populations through Aust...