Contribution of green turtles Chelonia mydas to total herbivore biomass in shallow tropical habitats of oceanic islands

Green turtles are megaherbivores with a key role in the dynamics of tropical seagrass meadows, but little is known about their relevance as herbivores in tropical reef habitats. We conducted underwater censuses of green turtles, herbivorous fishes and sea urchins in two distinct tropical regions: Fe...

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Autores: Cardona Pascual, Luis, Campos Pena, Patricia, Velásquez Vacca, Adriana
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/157662
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/157662
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Tortugues marines
Biomassa
Sea turtles
Biomass
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spelling Contribution of green turtles Chelonia mydas to total herbivore biomass in shallow tropical habitats of oceanic islandsCardona Pascual, LuisCampos Pena, PatriciaVelásquez Vacca, AdrianaTortugues marinesBiomassaSea turtlesBiomassGreen turtles are megaherbivores with a key role in the dynamics of tropical seagrass meadows, but little is known about their relevance as herbivores in tropical reef habitats. We conducted underwater censuses of green turtles, herbivorous fishes and sea urchins in two distinct tropical regions: Fernando de Noronha (Western Atlantic Ocean) and the Hawaiian Archipelago (Central Pacific Ocean), to assess the contribution of green turtles to the total herbivore biomass in shallow reef habitats of tropical oceanic islands. Juvenile green turtles ranging 40-60 cm were observed at most of the surveyed sites, and hence, could be considered typical components of the shallow reef fauna of tropical oceanic islands. Furthermore, they were usually one of the most abundant species of roving herbivores in many of the sites surveyed. However, the biomass of green turtles was usually much lower than the aggregated biomass of fishes or sea urchins, which usually constituted most of the total herbivore biomass. Green turtles made a major contribution to the total herbivore biomass only in sheltered sites with low rugosity, low coral cover and high algal cover. Further investigation on the trophic redundancy between herbivores is required to assess the actual relevance of green turtles in reef ecosystems of oceanic islands, compared to herbivorous fishes and sea urchins, because different herbivores may target different algal resources and complementarity may be needed to maintain ecosystem functioning across large, naturally varied reefscapes.Public Library of Science (PLoS)2020202020202020info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion12 p.application/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2445/157662Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunyainstname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)InglésReproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228548PLoS One, 2020, vol. 15, num. 1, p. e0228548https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228548cc-by (c) Cardona Pascual, Luis et al., 2020http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/esinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:recercat.cat:2445/1576622026-05-29T05:05:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Contribution of green turtles Chelonia mydas to total herbivore biomass in shallow tropical habitats of oceanic islands
title Contribution of green turtles Chelonia mydas to total herbivore biomass in shallow tropical habitats of oceanic islands
spellingShingle Contribution of green turtles Chelonia mydas to total herbivore biomass in shallow tropical habitats of oceanic islands
Cardona Pascual, Luis
Tortugues marines
Biomassa
Sea turtles
Biomass
title_short Contribution of green turtles Chelonia mydas to total herbivore biomass in shallow tropical habitats of oceanic islands
title_full Contribution of green turtles Chelonia mydas to total herbivore biomass in shallow tropical habitats of oceanic islands
title_fullStr Contribution of green turtles Chelonia mydas to total herbivore biomass in shallow tropical habitats of oceanic islands
title_full_unstemmed Contribution of green turtles Chelonia mydas to total herbivore biomass in shallow tropical habitats of oceanic islands
title_sort Contribution of green turtles Chelonia mydas to total herbivore biomass in shallow tropical habitats of oceanic islands
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Cardona Pascual, Luis
Campos Pena, Patricia
Velásquez Vacca, Adriana
author Cardona Pascual, Luis
author_facet Cardona Pascual, Luis
Campos Pena, Patricia
Velásquez Vacca, Adriana
author_role author
author2 Campos Pena, Patricia
Velásquez Vacca, Adriana
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Tortugues marines
Biomassa
Sea turtles
Biomass
topic Tortugues marines
Biomassa
Sea turtles
Biomass
description Green turtles are megaherbivores with a key role in the dynamics of tropical seagrass meadows, but little is known about their relevance as herbivores in tropical reef habitats. We conducted underwater censuses of green turtles, herbivorous fishes and sea urchins in two distinct tropical regions: Fernando de Noronha (Western Atlantic Ocean) and the Hawaiian Archipelago (Central Pacific Ocean), to assess the contribution of green turtles to the total herbivore biomass in shallow reef habitats of tropical oceanic islands. Juvenile green turtles ranging 40-60 cm were observed at most of the surveyed sites, and hence, could be considered typical components of the shallow reef fauna of tropical oceanic islands. Furthermore, they were usually one of the most abundant species of roving herbivores in many of the sites surveyed. However, the biomass of green turtles was usually much lower than the aggregated biomass of fishes or sea urchins, which usually constituted most of the total herbivore biomass. Green turtles made a major contribution to the total herbivore biomass only in sheltered sites with low rugosity, low coral cover and high algal cover. Further investigation on the trophic redundancy between herbivores is required to assess the actual relevance of green turtles in reef ecosystems of oceanic islands, compared to herbivorous fishes and sea urchins, because different herbivores may target different algal resources and complementarity may be needed to maintain ecosystem functioning across large, naturally varied reefscapes.
publishDate 2020
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2020
2020
2020
2020
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/2445/157662
url https://hdl.handle.net/2445/157662
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Reproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228548
PLoS One, 2020, vol. 15, num. 1, p. e0228548
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228548
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv cc-by (c) Cardona Pascual, Luis et al., 2020
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv cc-by (c) Cardona Pascual, Luis et al., 2020
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv 12 p.
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Public Library of Science (PLoS)
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)
reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
instname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
instname_str Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
reponame_str Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
collection Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15.81155

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