Foraging and nutrient acquisition are fundamental to a species’ survival, influencing their growth, reproduction and ultimately population viability. The Marine Turtle Research, Ecology, and Conservation Group addresses research questions related to how marine turtles interact with their environment, through their foraging and feeding strategies, including diet composition and selection and how these changes over time. Our projects also aim to better understand how alterations on species foraging ecology may affect marine ecosystems and on determining the ecological roles of marine turtles.
FORAGING ECOLOGY OF MARINE TURTLES
SPECIFIC PROJECTS
- Implications of sea turtle health to the dynamics of seagrass ecosystems
- Caught on Camera: The Secret Lives and Foraging Behaviors of Loggerhead Turtles in Florida’s Big Bend
- Life on Loggerheads: an integrated epibiotic study to assess foraging behavior, reproductive success, and habitats of Northern Gulf of Mexico loggerheads nesting at St. George Island
- Interactive Assessment of a Loggerhead Foraging Aggregation in Crystal River Year
PUBLICATIONS
COLLABORATORS
Nathan Robinson, Wild Blue Science
Simona Ceriani, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Jeroen Ingels, FSU Marine Lab
Camila Domit, Laboratory of Ecology and Conservation at the Federal University of Paraná
Jonathan Lefcheck, MarineGEO, Smithsonian Institution
Brian Shamblin, University of Georgia
FUNDING
National Geographic
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine