Persistent organic pollutants in green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) inhabiting two urbanized Southern California habitats

Barraza, Arthur D.; Komoroske, Lisa M.; Allen, Camryn D.; Eguchi, Tomoharu; Gossett, Rich; Holland, Erika B.; Lawson, D. D.; LeRoux, Robin A.; Lorenzi, Varenka; Seminoff, Jeffrey A.; Lowe, Christopher G.

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.110979

Cited by 21 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…With this context, perhaps anthropogenically derived nitrogen delivered via watersheds (McClelland et al 1997) caused the higher observed δ 15 N values. Turtles here carry heavy loads of pesticides and organic pollutants introduced via storm water runoff (Komoroske et al 2011, Barraza et al 2020, and delivery of allochthonous, anthropogenic nitrogen via occasional sewage spills has been confirmed by media reports (e.g., Smith 2019). Even low levels of nitrogen loading have been shown to increase δ 15 N values of coastal consumers (Heaton 1986).…”

Section: Spatial Variability In Bulk Skin δ 15 N Valuesmentioning

confidence: 79%

Large‐scale patterns of green turtle trophic ecology in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Seminoff

Komoroske

Amorocho³

et al. 2021

Ecosphere

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Trophic position and niche width are fundamental components of a species' ecology, reflecting resource use, and influencing key demographic parameters such as somatic growth, maturation, and survival. Concepts about a species' trophic niche space have important implications for local management and habitat protection, and can shed light about resilience to changing climate for species occurring over broad spatial scales. For elusive marine animals such as sea turtles, trophic niche is challenging to study, and researchers often rely on other metrics, such as isotopic niche, as a proxy. Here, stable isotope analysis (δ 13 C and δ 15 N values) was conducted on bulk skin tissue of 718 green turtles (Chelonia mydas) distributed among 16 foraging areas in the eastern Pacific from the USA to Chile, a range spanning~10,000 km. Compound-specific nitrogen isotope analysis of amino acids (CSIA-AA) was applied to 21 turtles among seven sites. Isotopic niche space was determined via Bayesian ellipse area (BEA) and convex hull area (CHA) analyses of bulk isotope values, which were also used along with amino acid δ 15 N values to determine trophic position (TP). Substantial variability in bulk tissue δ 13 C and δ 15 N values was found within and among sites, and amino acid δ 15 N values confirmed this was largely due to spatial differences in baseline nitrogen isotopic compositions, but also to a lesser extent from TP differences among the green turtle v www.esajournals.org 1 June 2021 v Volume 12(6) v Article e03479 foraging populations. Isotope niche space varied among sites, influenced by the diversity of prey types and relative input of terrestrial-vs. marine-derived nutrients; BEAs were the most suitable measurement of isotopic niche space due to the larger influence of outlying values with the CHA approach. Amino acid isotope-derived TP estimates that accounted for local habitat conditions (e.g., mixed seagrass/macroalgae diet) performed the best among several approaches; TP ranged from 2.3 to 3.6, which indicates an omnivorous diet for most populations. In addition to providing additional spatial resolution for δ 13 C and δ 15 N isoscapes in the eastern Pacific, especially in coastal habitats, this study further establishes CSIA-AA as an effective tool to study the trophic ecology of sea turtles across a variety of food webs and habitats.

show abstract

Section: Spatial Variability In Bulk Skin δ 15 N Valuesmentioning

confidence: 79%

Large‐scale patterns of green turtle trophic ecology in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Seminoff

Komoroske

Amorocho³

et al. 2021

Ecosphere

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…During vitellogenesis, these lipophilic compounds are transferred from the mother’s tissues to the eggs and then to the embryo, potentially altering early development [ 7 , 152 ]. Higher levels of contaminants (i.e., persistent organic pollutants) in plasma have been identified in sea turtle aggregations foraging in heavily urbanized coastlines compared to aggregations foraging in National Wildlife Refuges [ 164 ]. Not surprisingly, the Gulf of California that supports high productivity and biodiversity, and where several species of sea turtles converge to feed [ 165 ], shows contamination from different anthropogenic sources.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Congenital Malformations in Sea Turtles: Puzzling Interplay between Genes and Environment

Martín-del-Campo

Calderón-Campuzano²,

Rojas‐Lleonart

et al. 2021

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The completion of embryonic development depends, in part, on the interplay between genetic factors and environmental conditions, and any alteration during development may affect embryonic genetic and epigenetic regulatory pathways leading to congenital malformations, which are mostly incompatible with life. Oviparous reptiles, such as sea turtles, that produce numerous eggs in a clutch that is buried on the beach provide an opportunity to study embryonic mortality associated with malformations that occur at different times during development, or that prevent the hatchling from emerging from the nest. In sea turtles, the presence of congenital malformations frequently leads to mortality. A few years ago, a detailed study was performed on external congenital malformations in three species of sea turtles from the Mexican Pacific and Caribbean coasts, the hawksbill turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata (n = 23,559 eggs), the green turtle, Chelonia mydas (n = 17,690 eggs), and the olive ridley, Lepidochelys olivacea (n = 20,257 eggs), finding 63 types of congenital malformations, of which 38 were new reports. Of the three species, the olive ridley showed a higher incidence of severe anomalies in the craniofacial region (49%), indicating alterations of early developmental pathways; however, several malformations were also observed in the body, including defects in the carapace (45%) and limbs (33%), as well as pigmentation disorders (20%), indicating that deviations occurred during the middle and later stages of development. Although intrinsic factors (i.e., genetic mutations or epigenetic modifications) are difficult to monitor in the field, some environmental factors (such as the incubation temperature, humidity, and probably the status of feeding areas) are, to some extent, less difficult to monitor and/or control. In this review, we describe the aetiology of different malformations observed in sea turtle embryos, and provide some actions that can reduce embryonic mortality.

show abstract

“…All seven species of sea turtles, which have diverse dietary habits, are listed nationally or internationally as endangered or threatened. A number of targeted studies have measured POPs in sea turtles. − Although the reported POP levels were relatively low compared to predatory marine species, the health effects of pollutants on sea turtles requires further investigation. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Halogenated Organic Compounds in Pelagic Sharks and Sea Turtles Using a Nontargeted Approach

Renaguli

Fernando

Holsen

et al. 2021

Environ. Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Halogenated organic compounds (HOCs) in marine species collected from the Atlantic Ocean [3 shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) and 1 porbeagle (Lamna nasus)], and 12 sea turtles collected from the Pacific Ocean [3 loggerhead (Caretta caretta), 3 green (Chelonia mydas), 3 olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), and 3 hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata)] were analyzed with a nontargeted analytical method using two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Sharks and sea turtles had distinct HOC profiles. Halogenated methoxyphenols (halo-MeOPs) were the most abundant compound class identified in sea turtle livers, while polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were the most abundant in shark livers. In addition to legacy contaminants and halo-MeOPs, a total of 110 nontargeted/novel HOCs (NHOCs) were observed in the shark livers. Shortfin mako collected from the northern Gulf of Mexico contained the largest number (89) and most diverse structural classes of NHOCs. Among all NHOCs, a group of compounds with the elemental composition C 14 H 12−n Cl n (n = 5−8) exhibited the highest concentrations, followed by chlorocarbazoles and tris(chlorophenyl) methanes (TCPMs). Using nontargeted workflows, a variety of known and unknown HOCs were observed, which demonstrate the need to develop more complete chemical profiles in the marine environment.

show abstract

Persistent organic pollutants in green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) inhabiting two urbanized Southern California habitats

Cited by 21 publications

References 50 publications

Large‐scale patterns of green turtle trophic ecology in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Large‐scale patterns of green turtle trophic ecology in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Congenital Malformations in Sea Turtles: Puzzling Interplay between Genes and Environment

Characterization of Halogenated Organic Compounds in Pelagic Sharks and Sea Turtles Using a Nontargeted Approach

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About