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long-term dietary analysis of loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta) based on strandings from Cumberland Island, Georgia

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Date Issued:
2001
Summary:
Information is lacking regarding the foraging ecology of many sea turtle species. This represents the first long-term study to partition gut content samples to look for differences in diets among seasons, across size classes, or between health or sex categories. In this study complete gut contents from loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) that stranded on Cumberland Island, Georgia USA from 1979--99 are analyzed (n = 369). The long-term nature of this study and large sample size allows for comparisons of diets across years as well as the categories mentioned above. Diets were shown to shift significantly over the years of the study as well as among seasons. Ontogenetic shifts in diets were also observed, while diets did not seem to differ with sex and apparent health of the turtles. The findings from this study point to potential biases from shorter-term studies that lack a robust distribution of turtle size.
Title: A long-term dietary analysis of loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta) based on strandings from Cumberland Island, Georgia.
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Name(s): Youngkin, Dale Allan
Florida Atlantic University, Degree Grantor
Wyneken, Jeanette, Thesis Advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2001
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 74 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Information is lacking regarding the foraging ecology of many sea turtle species. This represents the first long-term study to partition gut content samples to look for differences in diets among seasons, across size classes, or between health or sex categories. In this study complete gut contents from loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) that stranded on Cumberland Island, Georgia USA from 1979--99 are analyzed (n = 369). The long-term nature of this study and large sample size allows for comparisons of diets across years as well as the categories mentioned above. Diets were shown to shift significantly over the years of the study as well as among seasons. Ontogenetic shifts in diets were also observed, while diets did not seem to differ with sex and apparent health of the turtles. The findings from this study point to potential biases from shorter-term studies that lack a robust distribution of turtle size.
Identifier: 9780493276403 (isbn), 12823 (digitool), FADT12823 (IID), fau:9698 (fedora)
Note(s): Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2001.
Subject(s): Loggerhead turtle--Food--Georgia--Cumberland Island
Sea turtles--Food
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12823
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.