Editing Sea turtle (section)

=== Importance to ecosystems ===
[[Image:Sea turtles on beach in hawaii.jpg|thumb|left|Sea turtles on a beach in [[Hawaii]]]]

Sea turtles play key roles in two habitat types: oceans and beaches/dunes.

In the oceans, sea turtles, especially green sea turtles, are among the very few creatures (manatees are another) that eat [[sea grass]]. Sea grass needs to be constantly cut short to help it grow across the sea floor. Sea turtle grazing helps maintain the health of the sea grass beds. Sea grass beds provide breeding and developmental grounds for numerous marine animals. Without them, many marine species humans harvest would be lost, as would the lower levels of the food chain. The reactions could result in many more marine species eventually becoming endangered or extinct.<ref name="cccturtle.org">[http://cccturtle.org/seaturtleinformation.php?page=whycareaboutseaturtles Why Care About Sea Turtles?], Sea Turtle Conservancy.</ref>

Sea turtles use beaches and [[sand dunes]] as to lay their eggs. Such coastal environments are nutrient-poor and depend on vegetation to protect against erosion. Eggs, hatched or unhatched, and hatchlings that fail to make it into the ocean are nutrient sources for dune vegetation and therefore protecting these nesting habitats for sea turtles, forming a [[positive feedback loop]].<ref name="cccturtle.org" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hannan |first1=Laura B. |last2=Roth |first2=James D. |last3=Ehrhart |first3=Llewellyn M. |last4=Weishampel |first4=John F. |title=Dune Vegetation Fertilization by Nesting Sea Turtles |journal=Ecology |date=2007 |volume=88 |issue=4 |pages=1053–1058 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/27651194 |access-date=October 20, 2020 |publisher=[[Ecological Society of America]]|doi=10.1890/06-0629 |jstor=27651194 |pmid=17536720 |bibcode=2007Ecol...88.1053H |s2cid=7194642 }}</ref>

Sea turtles also maintain a symbiotic relationship with [[yellow tang]], in which the fish will eat algae growing on the shell of a sea turtle.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://akepa.hpa.edu/~mrice/turtle/Articles%20of%20interest/symposiumpapertcs.pdf |title=CLEANING SYMBIOSIS AND DIEL BEHAVIOR OF GREEN TURTLES (''CHELONIA MYDAS'') AT PUAKO, HAWAII |last1=Catellacci |first1=Alima |first2=Alexandra |last2=Wooddell |first3=Marc R. |last3=Rice |work=Sea Turtle Research Program |publisher=Hawaii Preparatory Academy |location=USA |access-date=2019-03-23 |archive-date=2015-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007041618/http://akepa.hpa.edu/~mrice/turtle/Articles%20of%20interest/symposiumpapertcs.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>