TY - JOUR
T1 - Ontogenetic development of migration: Lagrangian drift trajectories suggest a new paradigm for sea turtles
AU - Hays, Graeme C.
AU - Fossette, Sabrina
AU - Katselidis, Kostas A.
AU - Mariani, Patrizio
AU - Schofield, Gail
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Long distance migration occurs in a wide variety of taxa including birds, insects, fishes, mammals and reptiles. Here, we provide evidence for a new paradigm for the determinants of migration destination. As adults, sea turtles show fidelity to their natal nesting areas and then at the end of the breeding season may migrate to distant foraging sites. For a major rookery in the Mediterranean, we simulated hatchling drift by releasing 288 000 numerical particles in an area close to the nesting beaches. We show that the pattern of adult dispersion from the breeding area reflects the extent of passive dispersion that would be experienced by hatchlings. Hence, the prevailing oceanography around nesting areas may be crucial to the selection of foraging sites used by adult sea turtles. This environmental forcing may allow the rapid evolution of new migration destinations if ocean currents alter with climate change.
AB - Long distance migration occurs in a wide variety of taxa including birds, insects, fishes, mammals and reptiles. Here, we provide evidence for a new paradigm for the determinants of migration destination. As adults, sea turtles show fidelity to their natal nesting areas and then at the end of the breeding season may migrate to distant foraging sites. For a major rookery in the Mediterranean, we simulated hatchling drift by releasing 288 000 numerical particles in an area close to the nesting beaches. We show that the pattern of adult dispersion from the breeding area reflects the extent of passive dispersion that would be experienced by hatchlings. Hence, the prevailing oceanography around nesting areas may be crucial to the selection of foraging sites used by adult sea turtles. This environmental forcing may allow the rapid evolution of new migration destinations if ocean currents alter with climate change.
U2 - 10.1098/rsif.2010.0009
DO - 10.1098/rsif.2010.0009
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 20236958
VL - 7
SP - 1319
EP - 1327
JO - Journal of the Royal Society. Interface
JF - Journal of the Royal Society. Interface
SN - 1742-5689
IS - 50
ER -