Ocean currents, individual movements and genetic structuring of populations
© 2017, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. Ocean currents profoundly impact all life in the oceans and over a broad size spectra species may show both horizontal and vertical movements to stay on preferred locations. As a corollary it might be expected that individuals in preferred oceanic habitats may simply drift with flows. We explored these scenarios by both satellite tracking young pelagic loggerhead turtles and examining the genetic structuring of individuals on coastal foraging areas across the Mediterranean in relation to ocean flows measured both with Lagrangian drifters and a numerical ocean circulation model for the area. Both patterns of movement (n = 18 turtles ranging in size from 41.2 to 68.5 cm CCL tracked for up to 460 days) and genetic structuring (n = 165 individuals from six sites across the ocean basin) suggested that ocean flows profoundly impact the movements of immature turtles and suggest a pattern of largely passive drift within an ocean basin that, throughout, is broadly favourable for developing loggerhead turtles. The situation contrasts with more heterogeneous habitats in the Atlantic and Pacific, where larger amounts of directional swimming may be required to avoid sub-optimum areas.
History
Journal
Marine BiologyVolume
165Article number
10Location
New York, N.Y.Publisher DOI
ISSN
0025-3162eISSN
1432-1793Language
EnglishPublication classification
C Journal article, C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2017, Springer-Verlag GmbHIssue
1Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERGUsage metrics
Keywords
Science & TechnologyLife Sciences & BiomedicineMarine & Freshwater BiologyTURTLES CARETTA-CARETTALOGGERHEAD SEA-TURTLESCENTRAL NORTH PACIFICSATELLITE TRACKINGMEDITERRANEAN SEAMARINE TURTLESHABITAT USEPATTERNSMIGRATIONATLANTICSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences3005 Fisheries sciences3103 Ecology3109 Zoology
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