Habitat fidelity in hawksbill sea turtles

Climate change is altering habitat suitability and driving shifts in species distributions. To understand potential responses by mobile animals, it is essential to assess levels of plasticity in habitat use, ranging from transience to long-term fidelity. Here, we evaluate the fidelity of hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) to habitats used while foraging (our primary focus), migrating, and nesting. After satellite tracking 17 adult females from three Western Atlantic nesting areas, we then re-tracked them in a subsequent year. Of 15 turtles with sufficient data to assess interannual foraging area fidelity, 14 returned to the same home range, exhibiting overlap between successive 50% utilization distributions (UDs); the 15th individual shifted <10 km. Mean precision of fidelity, here expressed as the distance between centroids of successive foraging UDs, was 1.45 ± SD 2.3 km-less than the error associated with many satellite fixes. We also observed fidelity to inter-nesting home ranges and migratory pathways, though distinct deviations in migratory routes occurred. A paradigm of precise habitat fidelity is likely appropriate for adult hawksbills, yet merits further investigation across life history stages and global populations. Our results suggest that adult transience may have limited potential to contribute to projected distributional shifts.

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Publication Details

Journal
Ecology
Published
2025-10-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70224
Primary Topic
Turtle Biology and Conservation
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Habitat fidelity in hawksbill sea turtles

Kathryn E. Levasseur, Maria Ângela Marcovaldi, Mariana M. P. B. Fuentes, Barry H. Krueger et al.
Ecology
Turtle Biology and Conservation
article

Habitat fidelity in hawksbill sea turtles

Kathryn E. Levasseur, Maria Ângela Marcovaldi, Mariana M. P. B. Fuentes, Barry H. Krueger, Lotus Vermeer, Erik Allan Pinheiro dos Santos, Cláudio Bellini, Andrew S. Maurer, Julia A. Horrocks, Hannah B. Vander Zanden, Alexandra L. Fireman, Armando J. B. Santos, Renata Maria Arruda Ramos, Karen L. Eckert, Seth Stapleton, Daniel H. G. Viera
article en

Abstract

Climate change is altering habitat suitability and driving shifts in species distributions. To understand potential responses by mobile animals, it is essential to assess levels of plasticity in habitat use, ranging from transience to long-term fidelity. Here, we evaluate the fidelity of hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) to habitats used while foraging (our primary focus), migrating, and nesting. After satellite tracking 17 adult females from three Western Atlantic nesting areas, we then re-tracked them in a subsequent year. Of 15 turtles with sufficient data to assess interannual foraging area fidelity, 14 returned to the same home range, exhibiting overlap between successive 50% utilization distributions (UDs); the 15th individual shifted <10 km. Mean precision of fidelity, here expressed as the distance between centroids of successive foraging UDs, was 1.45 ± SD 2.3 km-less than the error associated with many satellite fixes. We also observed fidelity to inter-nesting home ranges and migratory pathways, though distinct deviations in migratory routes occurred. A paradigm of precise habitat fidelity is likely appropriate for adult hawksbills, yet merits further investigation across life history stages and global populations. Our results suggest that adult transience may have limited potential to contribute to projected distributional shifts.

EcologyVol. 106(10)
Florida State University (US), Sea Turtle Conservancy (US), Geological Survey of Western Australia (AU), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (BR), University of Minnesota (US), Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (US), Davidson College (US), University of California, Santa Barbara (US), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (US), Antigua State College (AG), Instituto de Pesquisas da Marinha (BR), Fundação Bahiana de Infectologia (BR), NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Fisheries Science Center (US), Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado da Paraíba (BR), United States Virgin Islands Department of Health (VI), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Espírito Santo (BR), University of the West Indies (BB), National Health Council (US), American University of Antigua (AG)
Openalex Percentile: Top 72%
Turtle Biology and Conservation
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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