Conservation implications of sea turtle nesting trends: elusive recovery of a globally important loggerhead population
Abstract Understanding population status and trends is important for developing and evaluating management and conservation actions for threatened species. Monitoring population status of marine organisms is especially challenging. Because sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs and nests are easil...
Published in: | Ecosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2936 https://doaj.org/article/5e3fcbc57fc946ceb12c0a045e29c6ce |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5e3fcbc57fc946ceb12c0a045e29c6ce |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5e3fcbc57fc946ceb12c0a045e29c6ce 2023-05-15T17:45:35+02:00 Conservation implications of sea turtle nesting trends: elusive recovery of a globally important loggerhead population S. A. Ceriani P. Casale M. Brost E. H. Leone B. E. Witherington 2019-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2936 https://doaj.org/article/5e3fcbc57fc946ceb12c0a045e29c6ce EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2936 https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925 2150-8925 doi:10.1002/ecs2.2936 https://doaj.org/article/5e3fcbc57fc946ceb12c0a045e29c6ce Ecosphere, Vol 10, Iss 11, Pp n/a-n/a (2019) Caretta caretta clutch frequency nest count Northwest Atlantic Distinct Population Segment Northwest Atlantic Regional Management Units population abundance Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2936 2022-12-30T22:45:12Z Abstract Understanding population status and trends is important for developing and evaluating management and conservation actions for threatened species. Monitoring population status of marine organisms is especially challenging. Because sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs and nests are easily counted, these counts are commonly used as an index of abundance and population trends. Nest counts do not provide a direct index of adult female population abundance because females typically lay more than one nest per year and most do not reproduce every year. This study attempts for the first time to investigate the likelihood that observed fluctuations of nest counts represent inter‐annual changes of the adult female population by accounting for uncertainty in reproductive rate parameters. We analyzed 30 yr of reproductive data from the largest nesting loggerhead sea turtle population worldwide, breeding in Florida (USA), and for the three Recovery Units and seven Management Units therein. Nest counts followed a general non‐monotonic trend with wide fluctuations that corresponded to decreasing and increasing trends during short intervals. When we accounted for uncertainty in both clutch frequency and remigration interval, there was no evidence for an increasing or a declining trend in the breeding female population across the entire period. Despite extensive conservation efforts and protections for loggerheads in Florida and the wider USA, we did not find evidence of a strong population recovery. We recommend maintaining a high level of protection, addressing persistent anthropogenic threats, continued collection of rigorous nest‐count data, and monitoring reproductive parameters to better link nest counts to adult female population abundance. Our results demonstrate the need for caution in using nest counts as a direct proxy for adult female population status, as it may lead to unsupported conclusions potentially detrimental to conservation. Therefore, we recommend to always translating nest trends to at least ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Ecosphere 10 11 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Caretta caretta clutch frequency nest count Northwest Atlantic Distinct Population Segment Northwest Atlantic Regional Management Units population abundance Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Caretta caretta clutch frequency nest count Northwest Atlantic Distinct Population Segment Northwest Atlantic Regional Management Units population abundance Ecology QH540-549.5 S. A. Ceriani P. Casale M. Brost E. H. Leone B. E. Witherington Conservation implications of sea turtle nesting trends: elusive recovery of a globally important loggerhead population |
topic_facet |
Caretta caretta clutch frequency nest count Northwest Atlantic Distinct Population Segment Northwest Atlantic Regional Management Units population abundance Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Abstract Understanding population status and trends is important for developing and evaluating management and conservation actions for threatened species. Monitoring population status of marine organisms is especially challenging. Because sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs and nests are easily counted, these counts are commonly used as an index of abundance and population trends. Nest counts do not provide a direct index of adult female population abundance because females typically lay more than one nest per year and most do not reproduce every year. This study attempts for the first time to investigate the likelihood that observed fluctuations of nest counts represent inter‐annual changes of the adult female population by accounting for uncertainty in reproductive rate parameters. We analyzed 30 yr of reproductive data from the largest nesting loggerhead sea turtle population worldwide, breeding in Florida (USA), and for the three Recovery Units and seven Management Units therein. Nest counts followed a general non‐monotonic trend with wide fluctuations that corresponded to decreasing and increasing trends during short intervals. When we accounted for uncertainty in both clutch frequency and remigration interval, there was no evidence for an increasing or a declining trend in the breeding female population across the entire period. Despite extensive conservation efforts and protections for loggerheads in Florida and the wider USA, we did not find evidence of a strong population recovery. We recommend maintaining a high level of protection, addressing persistent anthropogenic threats, continued collection of rigorous nest‐count data, and monitoring reproductive parameters to better link nest counts to adult female population abundance. Our results demonstrate the need for caution in using nest counts as a direct proxy for adult female population status, as it may lead to unsupported conclusions potentially detrimental to conservation. Therefore, we recommend to always translating nest trends to at least ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
S. A. Ceriani P. Casale M. Brost E. H. Leone B. E. Witherington |
author_facet |
S. A. Ceriani P. Casale M. Brost E. H. Leone B. E. Witherington |
author_sort |
S. A. Ceriani |
title |
Conservation implications of sea turtle nesting trends: elusive recovery of a globally important loggerhead population |
title_short |
Conservation implications of sea turtle nesting trends: elusive recovery of a globally important loggerhead population |
title_full |
Conservation implications of sea turtle nesting trends: elusive recovery of a globally important loggerhead population |
title_fullStr |
Conservation implications of sea turtle nesting trends: elusive recovery of a globally important loggerhead population |
title_full_unstemmed |
Conservation implications of sea turtle nesting trends: elusive recovery of a globally important loggerhead population |
title_sort |
conservation implications of sea turtle nesting trends: elusive recovery of a globally important loggerhead population |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2936 https://doaj.org/article/5e3fcbc57fc946ceb12c0a045e29c6ce |
genre |
Northwest Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northwest Atlantic |
op_source |
Ecosphere, Vol 10, Iss 11, Pp n/a-n/a (2019) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2936 https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925 2150-8925 doi:10.1002/ecs2.2936 https://doaj.org/article/5e3fcbc57fc946ceb12c0a045e29c6ce |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2936 |
container_title |
Ecosphere |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
11 |
_version_ |
1766148713653207040 |