Browsing by Subject "Stable Isotope Analysis"
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Item Ontogenetic Shifts in Diet and Habitat by Juvenile Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas) along the Middle and Lower Texas Coast(2012-10-19) Howell, LyndseyEffective population management of green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) necessitates understanding the temporal variation in foraging grounds used in ontogenetic stages, and the effect that the assimilated diet within those habitats has on nutritional gain, growth and eventual reproductive output. Texas coastal waters provide foraging grounds critical to meeting the nutritional needs of green turtles during early life history. To characterize temporal shifts in foraging strategy stomach contents combined with stable carbon (delta13C) and nitrogen (delta15N) isotopes of scute tissue were examined across size classes of stranded juvenile green turtles from the middle and lower Texas coast during 2007-2010. Findings from dietary analysis generally corroborated those from stable isotopes in scute samples. Results indicate green sea turtles exhibit multiple shifts in diet and habitat along the Texas coast. Although isotope values in the tissues of some <25 cm SCL turtles signified recent recruitment to jetty habitat, most in this size class exhibited depleted delta13C and enriched delta15N values indicative of oceanic life. Reinforcing oceanic occupancy from stable isotope results was forage material dominated by oceanic items such as Sargassum spp., Scyphozoa spp., and plastic debris. Diet analysis of 25-34.9 cm SCL turtles implied regional differences existed in macroalgae and seagrass consumption. Enriched delta13C and delta15N values in newest scute suggest most turtles inhabited the jetty environment, where macroalgae is the most available forage. A definitive shift by >35 cm SCL turtles to inshore seagrass habitat was revealed by a diet of seagrasses and tissue enriched in delta13C and depleted in delta15N. This is the first study to integrate stomach contents of several green turtle size classes with tissue analysis of stable isotopes. The combination of these techniques provided an assessment of the effectiveness of stable isotope analyses in documenting diet and habitat shifts. Stomach content examination determined the most recent diet consumed within the habitat occupied, whereas stable isotope analysis provided a time-integrated synopsis of diet and habitat shifts. Findings indicate integration of stomach content and stable isotope analysis is highly effective for characterizing habitat use and foraging strategy of ontogenetic-stage green sea turtles.Item Stable Isotope Dynamics in Cownose Rays (Rhinoptera bonasus) within the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico(2014-07-25) St. Clair, Katherine IThe cownose ray (Rhinoptera bonasus) is a durophagous mesopredator that exerts for top-down control on commercial shellfish stocks along the Atlantic coast. Although the trophic ecology of this elasmobranch has been the subject of extensive investigation, there is limited information available on feeding patterns of cownose rays in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Stable isotope analysis has been used to study the foraging ecology of various species, but only recently applied to elasmobranchs. Therefore, this study conducted a controlled feeding trial to determine incorporation rates and diet-tissue discrimination factors for ?^(13)C and ?^(15)N in cownose ray epidermal tissue. Additionally, this study investigates ?^(13)C and ?^(15)N variability in cownose rays captured via entanglement nets, from surveys along the Texas coast from 2009 ? 2012. This is the first study to report ?^(13)C and ?^(15)N incorporation rates in elasmobranch epidermal tissue; estimated ?^(13)C and ?^(15)N incorporation rates were 0.0018 ? 0.0003 days^(-1) and 0.0059 ? 0.0022 days^(-1), respectively. Isotopic incorporation rates were highly variable amongst individuals but did not vary significantly with ray size (disc width or weight). Isotopic equilibrium was not reached between the epidermal tissue and the dietary treatment levels; therefore, estimated diet-tissue discrimination factors (?^(13)C = 4.26? and ?^(15)N = 0.69?) could not be applied for analyses of wild populations. Relative size of Bayesian ellipses, denoting the isotopic niche of cownose rays, varied seasonally in the lower Laguna Madre, with Summer 2012 significantly smaller than all other sampling periods. Female mean ?^(13)C signatures were significantly enriched compared to those of males, indicating that female rays are foraging over longer periods of time within inshore habitats. Isotopic niche size was comparable across the Texas bay systems in 2012, with only the lower Laguna Madre (Spring) significantly smaller. However, mean ?^(13)C and ?^(15)N in cownose rays varied spatially across bay systems along the Texas coast. This initial exploration into the trophic ecology of cownose rays within the northwestern Gulf of Mexico provides evidence of temporal and spatial variability in isotopic signatures, potentially aiding scientists in the management of this species.