benefit to the individual in terms of fitness (Roff 1992, Steams 1992), fast growth may carry a

variety of costs (Arendt 1997, Blanckenhorn 2000, Metcalfe and Monaghan 2001). In other

animal models, these costs include delayed skeletal ossification (Arendt and Wilson 2000),

weakened musculature (Christiansen et al. 1992), reduced locomotor performance (Billerbeck et

al. 2001, Alvarez and Metcalfe 2005), accelerated telomere degradation (Jennings et al. 1999),

and decreased longevity (Olsson and Shine 2002). The proximate determinant of such costs may

be the accumulation of cellular damage during rapid growth, as modeled by Mangel and Munch

(2005). These detrimental effects of rapid growth may explain the sub-maximal growth rates

typically demonstrated by animals feeding ad libitum continuously (Mangel and Stamps 2001). I

have demonstrated that cellular antioxidant potential of R-AL turtles is decreased compared to

AL turtles, at least in mitotically active tissue (Chapter 4). If such costs place an upper limit on

growth in green turtles, they may further explain the transient and incomplete nature of the

compensatory response I observed.

 This study is the first to document the existence of and mechanisms for CG in young green

turtles. The capacity to grow quickly, albeit only transiently, provides juveniles an opportunity to

mitigate some of the costs of being small. At the same time, however, the transitory nature of the

CG response suggests that the benefits of accelerated growth are countered by costs potentially

including decreased longevity and/or performance that may be mediated by altered antioxidant

function. The extent to which CG is possible at different ages and during different life stages is

unknown but deserves further study. For example, the ontogenetic shift in habitat use and diet

that green turtles undergo as juveniles may provide an opportunity for CG, as such niche shifts

often correspond to improved food availability (Ali et al. 2003). What is clear from this study is

that differences in food availability can induce plasticity in growth, morphology, and body