Research interests

 

My general research interests are in the fields of marine ecosystems and climate variability, fisheries oceanography, sea turtle biology, marine primary productivity modeling, and ocean color variability.  I'm particularly interested in the trophic cascading dynamics within marine ecosystems from lower trophic primary producers to upper trophic organisms through both large- and small-scale climate variability.  This includes both bottom-up factors such as resource availability and top-down factors including anthropogenic climate warming and fisheries.  To assess ecosystem variability over large-scales spatially and temporally in the marine environment, I use satellite derived ocean properties, particularly ocean color data from the SeaWiFS and MODIS sensors.  My dissertation work focused on the effects of climate and resource availability on the ecology of leatherback turtles, particularly in the eastern Pacific Ocean.  I'm currently working on the Primary Production Algorithm Round Robin (PPARR) project with Dr. Marjy Friedrichs.  This project involves the screening of various primary productivity algorithms that use satellite-derived ocean properties and comparing their output to in situ primary productivity at various marine ecosystems.  Additionally, I am analyzing the performance of ocean color, biogeochemical circulation, and ecosystem models at the time-series stations BATS and HOT to understand how well the models estimate multidecadal trends in primary productivity through changes in large-scale climate forcing.

Publications (Current and In Preparation)

 

Saba, V.S.  Sea Turtles in the Tropical High Seas: Climate Variability, Oceanography, and Ecosystem Responses. 2009. In: Sea Turtles of the Eastern Pacific Ocean: Conservation Challenges and Signs of Success (eds J.A. Seminoff and R. Brusca), in press.

Friedrichs, M.A.M., Carr, M-E., Barber, R.T., Scardi, M., Antoine, D., Armstrong, R.A., Asanuma, I., Behrenfeld, M.J., Buitenhuis, E.T., Chai, F., Christian, J.R., Ciotti, A.M., Doney, S.C., Dowell, M., Dunne, J., Gentili, B., Gregg, W., Hoepffner, N., Ishizaka, J., Kameda, T., Lima, I., Marra, J., Mélin, F., Moore, J.K., Morel, A., O’Malley, R.T., O’Reilly, J., Saba, V.S., Schmeltz, M., Smyth, T.J., Tjiputra, J., Waters, K., Westberry, T.K., Winguth, A. 2009. Assessing the uncertainties of model estimates of primary productivity in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Journal of Marine Systems, in press.  Link to PDF.

Suryan, R.M., Saba, V.S., Hatch, S.A., Wallace, B.P., Frederiksen, M., Wanless, S. 2009. Environmental forcing on life history strategies: Multi-trophic level response at ocean basin scales.  Progress in Oceanography, in press.

Wallace, B.P., Saba, V.S.  2009. Environmental and anthropogenic impacts on intra-specific variation in life history traits and population trends of leatherback turtles: Opportunities for targeted research and conservation. Endangered Species Research, in press.

Saba, V.S., Spotila, J.R., Chavez, F.P., Musick, J.A. 2008. Bottom-up and climatic forcing on the worldwide population of leatherback turtles. Ecology 89 (5), 1414-1427.  Download PDF.

Saba, V.S., Shillinger, G.L., Swithenbank, A.M., Block, B.A., Spotila, J.R., Musick, J.A., Paladino, F.V. 2008. An oceanographic context for the foraging ecology of eastern Pacific leatherback turtles: Consequences of ENSO. Deep-Sea Research I 55 (5), 646-660.  Download PDF.

Santidrián-Tomillo, P., Saba, V.S., Piedra, R., Paladino, F.V., Spotila, J.R. 2008. Effects of illegal harvest of eggs on the population decline of leatherback turtles in Marino Las Baulas National Park, Costa Rica. Conservation Biology 22 (5), 1216-1224.  Link to PDF.

Saba, V.S., Santidrián-Tomillo, P., Reina, R.D., Spotila, J.R., Musick, J.A., Evans, D.A., Paladino, F.V. 2007. The effect of the El Niño Southern Oscillation on the reproductive frequency of eastern Pacific leatherback turtles. Journal of Applied Ecology 44 (2), 395-404.  Download PDF.

Saba, V.S., Spotila, J.R. 2003. Survival and behavior of freshwater turtles after rehabilitation from an oil spill. Environmental Pollution 126 (2), 213-223.  Download PDF.

Mansfield, K.L., Saba, V.S., Keinath, J.A., Musick, J.A. Satellite tracking reveals a dichotomy in migration strategies among juvenile loggerhead turtles in the Northwest Atlantic. Marine Biology. in review.

Saba, V.S., Friedrichs, M.A.M., Carr, M-E., and the PPARR4 team. The challenges of modeling primary productivity trends through multidecadal climate shifts:  A case study at BATS and HOT. in preparation.

Saba, V.S., Friedrichs, M.A.M., Carr, M-E., and the PPARR4 team. Estimating oceanic primary productivity at various ecosystems:  An evaluation of ocean color algorithms and general circulation models. in preparation.

 

Publication Highlights:

Editor's Choice in Science magazine, 2008. "A Steady Supply of Food," highlighting the Saba et al. 2008 Ecology paper, Science 320 (5879), 987.  Download PDF.

Professional Service

 

2007 – Present:  Associate Editor – Testudinaria: International Journal of Sea Turtle Natural History and Ecology.

2008 – Present:  Review Editor – Endangered Species Research.   

Professional Memberships

American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
Ecological Society of America
American Geophysical Union
International Sea Turtle Society