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Stable isotopes and epibiont communities reveal foraging habitats of nesting loggerhead turtles in the South West Indian Ocean

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Abstract

Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) occupy an array of marine habitats throughout their lives and understanding how this threatened species utilizes these habitats can help guide conservation efforts. This study used a combination of isotopic analysis (δ13C; δ15N) of turtle epidermis and epibiotic community composition to examine habitat-use patterns of nesting loggerheads from the South West Indian Ocean and related these to turtle body condition. First, we identified two foraging groups using relative changes in the turtle’s epidermis δ13C isotope values (of 170 individuals). Second, we show that epibiont communities (of 80 turtles) differed significantly between the two foraging groups, with oceanic/pelagic and neritic/benthic species occurring in higher abundances on turtles with depleted and enriched δ13C values, respectively. The complementary evidence from isotope and epibiont data thus indicates that nesting loggerheads of this population exhibit a bimodal foraging strategy. The relatively high variability in δ13C and δ15N values of the turtles’ tissue showed that they have a broad isotopic niche. While isotopic niches overlapped among turtles with different body conditions, very healthy individuals had a significantly narrower isotopic niche width than those in poorer condition. This suggests that turtles in very good condition are food specialists, and individuals with suboptimal body conditions utilise a wider range of food items and are more generalist foragers. These results show the value of using a combination of stable isotopes and epibiont communities as cost-effective tools that can be applied effectively to derive information on habitat-use patterns of migratory species.

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Availability of data and material

The datasets during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Jacqueline Raw and Linda Harris for assistance with various aspects during the research. Larisa Avens and two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their comments and suggestions, which greatly improved the manuscript. The iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife provided support during the research. The National Research Foundation (NRF), Nelson Mandela University and the former Department of Environmental Affairs: Oceans and Coasts provided financial assistance for field work and sample processing. CRN received funding from National Research Foundation (UID: 112196), Ernst and Ethel Eriksen Trust, Nelson Mandela University and the Institute of Coastal and Marine Research at Nelson Mandela University.

Funding

The National Research Foundation (NRF), Nelson Mandela University and the former Department of Environmental Affairs: Oceans and Coasts provided financial assistance for field work and sample processing. Additional funding was provided by the National Research Foundation (UID: 112196), Ernst and Ethel Eriksen Trust, Nelson Mandela University and the Institute of Coastal and Marine Research at Nelson Mandela University to CR. Nolte.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Coastal and Marine Research and Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela University, Summerstrand South Campus, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

    C. R. Nolte, D. le Gouvello & R. Nel

  2. Department of the Environment, Fisheries and Forestry: Oceans and Coasts, Cape Town, South Africa

    M. C. Pfaff

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    M. C. Pfaff

  4. South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute, Stanley, Falkland Islands

    A. M. de Lecea

  5. Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

    A. M. de Lecea

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  1. C. R. Nolte
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  3. A. M. de Lecea
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  4. D. le Gouvello
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Contributions

The contribution of the authors is as follows: conceived and designed the study: CRN, RN, MCP; collected and processed data: CRN, RN, MCP, DLG; analysed the results: CRN, RN, MCP, AMdL, DLG; wrote the manuscript: CRN, RN, MCP, AMdL, DLG.

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Correspondence to C. R. Nolte.

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Ethics approval

All sampling activities were carried out under research permits issued by the former South African Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA RES2016/67, RES2017/73) and Threatened and Protected Species Permit and Institutional Standing Permit (TOPS Permit no 29516 & Standing Permit no 03315). Ethical clearance was obtained for this project from the Nelson Mandela University (Ref no. A13-SCI-ZOO-011 and A13-SCI-ZOO-012. All turtles handled were done so with the utmost care as to not cause unnecessary stress to the individual. Turtles were examined and worked on only once they began laying eggs, as to avoid disturbing the nesting process.

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Nolte, C.R., Pfaff, M.C., de Lecea, A.M. et al. Stable isotopes and epibiont communities reveal foraging habitats of nesting loggerhead turtles in the South West Indian Ocean. Mar Biol 167, 162 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03767-x

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