AEROBIC BLOOD CULTURES AND COMPARISON TO CLINICAL FINDINGS OF FREE-RANGING GREEN TURTLES () IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA.

Positive blood cultures have been identified in debilitated, stranded, and deceased green turtles (), suggestive of septicemia. Interpretation of these results is often difficult because multiple studies have previously identified bacteremia in clinically healthy reptiles. In this study, paired blood cultures and skin cultures obtained after aseptic preparation of the venipuncture site were collected from 50 immature free-ranging green turtles from Port Canaveral, Florida.

Modeling juvenile sea turtle bycatch risk in commercial and recreational fisheries.

Understanding the drivers of fisheries bycatch is essential for limiting its impacts on vulnerable species. Here we present a model to estimate the relative magnitude of sea turtle bycatch in major coastal fisheries across the southeastern US based on spatiotemporal variation in fishing effort and the simulated distributions of juvenile Kemp's ridley () and green () sea turtles recruiting from oceanic to nearshore habitats. Over the period modeled (1996-2017), bycatch in recreational fisheries was estimated to be greater than the sum of bycatch that occurred in commercial fisheries that have historically been considered high risks to turtles (e.

Sea Snacks from DNA Tracks: Using DNA Metabarcoding to Characterize the Diet of Green Turtles (Chelonia Mydas).

The green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is a circumglobal species with a wide dietary breadth that varies among regions and life history stages. Comprehensive understanding of foraging ecology over space and time is critical to inform conservation and management of this species and its habitats. Here, we used DNA metabarcoding to test candidate primer sets with 39 gut content homogenates from stranded green turtles (FL, USA) to identify primer sets that maximize detection of food items and specificity of taxonomic classifications.

Incorporating climate science in applications of the US endangered species act for aquatic species.

Aquatic species are threatened by climate change but have received comparatively less attention than terrestrial species. We gleaned key strategies for scientists and managers seeking to address climate change in aquatic conservation planning from the literature and existing knowledge. We address 3 categories of conservation effort that rely on scientific analysis and have particular application under the U.

Climate change, marine environments, and the US Endangered species act.

Climate change is expected to be a top driver of global biodiversity loss in the 21st century. It poses new challenges to conserving and managing imperiled species, particularly in marine and estuarine ecosystems. The use of climate-related science in statutorily driven species management, such as under the U.