Regular articles
Special Issues
Caribbean Naturalist
CANA Home
Range and Scope
Board of Editors
Staff
Editorial Workflow
Publication Charges
Subscriptions
Other EH Journals
Northeastern Naturalist
Southeastern Naturalist
Neotropical Naturalist
Urban Naturalist
Prairie Naturalist
Journal of North American Bat
Research
Eastern Paleontologist
Journal of the North Atlantic
eBio
Chelonia mydas (Green Sea Turtle) forage at Higher Rates on Native Caribbean Seagrasses Despite Higher Coverage of Non-native Halophila stipulacea
Elizabeth C. Shaver1,*, Danielle A. Keller2, Joseph P. Morton1, and Brian R. Silliman1
1Division of Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA. 2Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3431 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC 28557, USA. *Corresponding author.
Caribbean Naturalist, No. 55 (2019)
Abstract
Since 2002, the non-native seagrass Halophila stipulacea has spread throughout subtidal habitats in the Caribbean. The ecological effects of the seagrass are still poorly understood, and the impacts of this invasion on the ecology of endangered Chelonia mydas (Green Sea Turtle), which graze on native Caribbean seagrasses, are of special concern. We conducted short-term (30-min) observational surveys of the feeding behavior of 20 individual turtles within 3 bays in St. John, US Virgin Islands that had mixed assemblages of native and invasive seagrasses, and recorded bites taken by turtles on each seagrass type. We found that while turtles consumed H. stipulacea, they disproportionately foraged on native seagrass species (99.98% of bites). For example, though average cover was higher for H. stipulacea than for native seagrasses, C. mydas consumption of native seagrasses was 53-times higher than of the non-native species. These patterns suggest that, at least for the present time, C. mydas in St. John prefer native seagrasses over H. stipulacea. Whether these feeding patterns impact plant community structure should be further investigated experimentally.
Download Full-text pdf (Accessible only to subscribers. To subscribe click here.)