Mother-Hatchling Isotopic Relationship in Green Turtle: Isotopic Niche-based Modelling

YALÇIN ÖZDİLEK Ş., SÖNMEZ B., MESTAV B.

Zoological Studies, cilt.63, 2024 (SCI-Expanded) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 63
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Dergi Adı: Zoological Studies
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Animal Behavior Abstracts, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Veterinary Science Database
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Chelonia mydas, Feeding ecology, Hatchling isotope, Mediterranean, Stable isotopes
  • Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The isotopic discrimination between the mother and the hatchlings has been modelled in various vertebrates, including sea turtles. In addition to the linear relation between δ13C and δ15 N isotope values of the mother – hatchling couple, there is missing data on the combined effects of both isotopes, which represent ecological niches of a species. The stable δ13 C and δ15 N isotope signatures of live hatchlings and their mother’s epidermis tissues were used in green turtles. The samples were taken from three main breeding beaches, Akyatan, Sugözü and Samandağ in Türkiye during the 2020 nesting season. It was found that both δ15 N and δ13 C values of hatchlings were not significantly different from those of mothers. Significant relationships were found between hatchlings and their mothers in terms of δ13 C value. Furthermore, when the hatchling isotopic niche size is known, the condition probability of estimating the mother isotopic niche size were 85.16% and 92.88% with the 0.95 and 0.99 alpha levels. In addition to showing a linear relationship between hatchlings and their mother's single isotopic composition, the current study offers a novel insight that proposes a niche overlap concept using two isotopes to comprehend the mother-hatchling relationship of green turtles living in the eastern Mediterranean.