title: Shifting the life-history paradigm: discovery of novel habitat use by hawksbill turtles.
abstract: Adult hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) are typically described as open-coast, coral reef and hard substrate dwellers. Here, we report new satellite tracking data on female hawksbills from several countries in the eastern Pacific that revealed previously undocumented behaviour for adults of the species. In contrast to patterns of habitat use exhibited by their Caribbean and Indo-Pacific counterparts, eastern Pacific hawksbills generally occupied inshore estuaries, wherein they had strong associations with mangrove saltwater forests. The use of inshore habitats and affinities with mangrove saltwater forests presents a previously unknown life-history paradigm for adult hawksbill turtles and suggests a potentially unique evolutionary trajectory for the species. Our findings highlight the variability in life-history strategies that marine turtles and other wide-ranging marine wildlife may exhibit among ocean regions, and the importance of understanding such disparities from an ecological and management perspective.
authors: San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA. info@hawksbill.org
authors: Alexander R
authors: AR
authors: Gaos
authors: Rebecca L
authors: RL
authors: Lewison
authors: Ingrid L
authors: IL
authors: Yañez
authors: Bryan P
authors: BP
authors: Wallace
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Liles
authors: Wallace J
authors: WJ
authors: Nichols
authors: Andres
authors: A
authors: Baquero
authors: Carlos R
authors: CR
authors: Hasbún
authors: Mauricio
authors: M
authors: Vasquez
authors: José
authors: J
authors: Urteaga
authors: Jeffrey A
authors: JA
authors: Seminoff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods; D003710:Demography; D017753:Ecosystem; D056727:Endangered Species; D005260:Female; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D013686:Telemetry; D014426:Turtles / Q000502:physiology*