Title

Origin Of Hawksbill Turtles In A Caribbean Feeding Area As Indicated By Genetic Markers

Keywords

Caribbean sea; Conservation genetics; Demography; DNA sequencing; Eretmochelys imbricata; Feeding ground composition; Genetic markers; Marine turtles; Mitochondrial DNA; Mixed stock analysis; Population structure

Abstract

Hawksbill turtles move between nesting colonies and feeding grounds, but in most cases it is not known which reproductive populations occupy a particular feeding habitat. In this study, genetic markers derived from mitochondrial DNA sequences are used to estimate the contribution of Caribbean nesting colonies to a feeding ground at Mona Island, Puerto Rico (n = 41). Maximum likelihood analysis indicates that this feeding population is not composed primarily of turtles from the neighboring nesting colony (also on Mona Island), but is drawn from nesting populations throughout the Caribbean region. A sampled nesting colony in the southern hemisphere (Bahia, Brazil) did not contribute, at detectable levels, to the Mona Island feeding ground. From this evidence, we concluded that hawksbill turtles recruit to feeding grounds over a scale of hundreds of kilometres, but not over the scale of 7000 km that separate Mona Island from Bahia, Brazil. These data indicate that a hawksbill turtle harvest on feeding grounds will reduce nesting populations throughout the Caribbean region.

Publication Date

1-1-1996

Publication Title

Ecological Applications

Volume

6

Issue

2

Number of Pages

566-572

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.2307/2269392

Socpus ID

0030422544 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/0030422544

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