Pacific Science, vol. 71, no. 3 (July 2017)

From Demography of Marine Turtles in the Nearshore Environments of the Northern Mariana Islands, an open access article in this issue. Clockwise from bottom left: nearshore capture locations in relation to benthic habitat of ( A) Saipan, (B) Tinian, and (C ) Rota, and (D) an image of the free diver hand capturing a juvenile green turtle. Green and orange dots depict capture locations for green and hawksbill turtles, respectively. Shading indicates benthic habitat.

 

This quarter’s issue of Pacific Science includes Demography of Marine Turtles in the Nearshore Environments of the Northern Mariana Islands, an open-access article; and an online-only supplemental for Methods for Measuring Bird-Mediated Seed Rain: Insights from a Hawaiian Mesic Forest.

The open-access article examines honu:

In the western Pacific, green (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles are listed as Endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). Population data are limited for both species throughout the entire region and particularly in the Philippine Sea. This study characterizes size class distribution, growth rates, habitat use, behavior, diet, and site fidelity of foraging aggregations of green and hawksbill turtles in nearshore habitats of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI ). Between August 2006 and February 2014, we captured 642 turtles (493 green and 36 hawksbill turtles). … This is the first study within the CNMI to report on morphometric data and diet composition of marine turtles. These results provide an assessment of green and hawksbill turtle population demographics and habitat use in the CNMI.

Scholarly articles in this issue:

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