Foraging ecology of oceanic-stage loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta
Foraging ecology of oceanic-stage loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta
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DOI：
10.3354/esr00227
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发表时间：
2010-01-01
影响因子：
3.1
通讯作者：
Martins, Helen R.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Frick, Michael G.;Williams, Kristina L.;Martins, Helen R.
我们检查了胃内容物（n = 12）和粪便样本（n = 4）在第一次定量分析的饮食组成的海洋阶段红海龟Caretta caretta从北大西洋。我们发现，来自亚速尔群岛的红海龟是机会主义食肉动物，以各种海洋和远洋生物为食;我们的研究结果还表明，它们利用了新的食物资源，如非土著物种。猎物种类的多样性与红？的个体大小和胃内容物的体积呈正相关。由于红海龟的身体大小也呈正相关，胃内容物体积，我们无法确定是否增加猎物的多样性是由于海龟觅食行为或仅仅是由于较大的样本量较大的海龟。猎物物种之间的生态协会增加的多样性，并可能的营养质量，猎物项目，和周期性的气象事件也可以增加猎物项目的多样性，以供红海龟。这些猎物生物的生活史的某些方面，如持续的产卵育雏，增加了幼龟消耗的猎物项目的营养价值。
We examined stomach contents (n = 12) and fecal samples (n = 4) in the first quantitative analysis of diet composition of oceanic-stage loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta from the North Atlantic Ocean. We found that loggerheads from the Azores are opportunistic carnivores that feed upon a variety of oceanic and pelagic organisms; our results also show that they exploited novel food resources, such as non-indigenous species. The diversity of prey species was positively correlated with loggerhead body size and volume of stomach contents. Because loggerhead body size was also positively correlated with stomach content volume, we were unable to determine whether increased prey diversity was a result of turtle foraging behavior or simply due to a larger sample volume from larger turtles. Ecological associations among prey species increase the diversity, and possibly the nutritional quality, of prey items, and periodic meteorological events can also increase the diversity of prey items available to loggerhead turtles. Aspects of the life history of some of these prey organisms, such as continued egg brooding, increase the nutritional value of prey items consumed by juvenile turtles.