New Study Underscores Value of Combining Studies for Regional Analyses of Sea Turtle Biology with Large Spatial and Temporal Scales

May 25, 2016

A new study coauthored by Vince Saba, an AOS visiting research collaborator, underscores the value of combining studies for regional analyses of sea turtle biology with large spatial and temporal scales. The lack of a spatial effect or spatio-temporal interaction and the very strong temporal effect reveal that growth rates in West Atlantic hawksbills (long-lived, major consumers in coral reef habitats that move over broad geographic areas -- hundreds to thousands of kilometers) are driven by region-wide forces. The close association of annual growth rates with the Multivariate El Niño Southern Oscillation Index (MEI) and Caribbean SST indicates that the decline in hawksbill growth rates since 1997 is probably an indirect response to increasing temperatures and climate. The study was published recently in Ecosphere.

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