IntroductionVamizi, an Island located in the Western Indian Ocean, is visited by a small and not fully characterized green turtle (Chelonia mydas (L.)) population. This population is threatened by natural hazards and several human activities, which are used to identify conservation priorities for marine turtles.It was our aim to contribute to the knowledge of marine turtles that nest in Vamizi, with respect to its regional management, and to an area that may possibly be included on the UNESCO World Heritage List due to its potential Outstanding Universal Value.Case descriptionHere, we evaluate the nesting parameters (incubation period, clutch size, hatching and emergence successes rates) and patterns over an 8-year (2003 – 2010) conservation program. We also present the results of genetic diversity based on the analysis of approximately an 850 pb fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region.Discussion and evaluationWe found that Vamizi beaches host a small number of nesting females, approximately 52 per year, but these have shown a reduction in their length. High hatching success (88.5 ± SD 17.2%, N = 649), emergence success rates (84.5 ± SD 20.4%, N = 649) were observed, and genetic diversity (N = 135), with 11 haplotypes found (7 new). It was also observed, in the later years of this study, a reduction in the incubation period, a dislocation of the nesting peak activity and an increase in the number of flooded nests and an increase of the number of nests in areas with lower human activity.ConclusionsSome resilience and behavioral plasticity seems to occur regarding human territory occupancy and climate changes. However, regardless of the results, aspects like what seems to be the reduction of some cohorts, the number of flooded nests and the diminishing of the incubation period (East and South facing beaches), show that conservation efforts have to be improved.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2193-1801-3-540) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Propósito – É intuito dos autores, suportado por uma mini revisão de informação publicada, apresentar um cenário de possíveis consequências de alterações climáticas associadas a ciclos biogeoquímicos e à disponibilidade de nutrientes para o fitoplâncton e à inerente produção primária. Abordagem – Neste artigo assumem a possibilidade de que alterações associadas ao clima determinarão o desaparecimento de muitas espécies, uma redistribuição daquelas que prevalecerem, determinarão alterações na qualidade ambiental, assim como a alteração da qualidade e quantidade de massa e energia que estará disponível para os consumidores. Implicações – Alteração de fatores dos quais os produtores primários estão dependentes, a qualidade e quantidade de energia eletromagnética, a proporção de gases e a quantidade de poeiras em suspensão na atmosfera, alterações nos padrões de temperatura, a acidificação da hidrosfera, a introdução e ou remobilização de nutrientes e de substâncias tóxicas associadas aos ciclos biogeoquímicos e a exploração não sustentável de recursos, poderá reduzir o fluxo de energia para os níveis tróficos mais elevados, com possível impacto na segurança alimentar das populações à escala local, regional ou global. Originalidade – Os autores salientam as possíveis consequências na diversidade fitoplanctónica e na produtividade primária dos oceanos devido a um eventual abaixamento dos valores de pH associado à solubilização de dióxido de carbono na hidrosfera e à alteração no equilíbrio e na quantidade de nutrientes disponíveis. Palavras-chave: fitodiversidade; fitoplâncton; acidificação dos oceanos; metais, balanço de nutrientes; teia alimentar.

Loggerheads are distributed by ten Regional Management Units (RMUs) worldwide. The Atlantic Ocean houses three of these: the Northwest, Southwest and Northeast RMUs. The most studied is, so far, the Northwest RMU, but the other two have focused attention of researchers. In contrast, marine turtles from the African Atlantic region (Southeast) belong to a complex but little-known region. What is their role in the Atlantic? Are these RMUs connected? To understand these questions, research was made of reports and publications concerning the Northeast Atlantic (NEA) RMU. The asymmetry in information and available knowledge about NEA is high when compared to other RMUs. This demonstrates that there is still a lack of conservation programs besides Cape Verde, and that there is difficulty in transforming data (nesting ecology, molecular, telemetry, etc.) into publications. However, this issue is evident for other marine turtle species of East African Atlantic. There is a need for better scientific support, to enable local conservation programs to deliver data in reports, and even scientific publications. There are so many aspects of loggerhead's life cycle that will only be unravelled by more and better supported studies. This is a paper that, by analysing the available information of the NEA loggerhead RMU, reflects the following steps to address in loggerhead conservation for the African Atlantic coast.

Field data are still recorded on paper in many worldwide beach surveys of nesting marine turtles. The data must be subsequently transferred into an electronic database, and this can introduce errors in the dataset. To minimize such errors, the “Turtles” software was developed and piloted to record field data by one software user accompanying one Tortuguero in Akumal beaches, Quintana Roo, Mexico, from June 1st to July 31st during the night patrols. Comparisons were made between exported data from the software with the paper forms entered into a database (henceforth traditional). Preliminary assessment indicated that the software user tended to record a greater amount of metrics (i.e., an average of 18.3 fields ± 5.4 sd vs. 8.6 fields ± 2.1 sd recorded by the traditional method). The traditional method introduce three types of “errors” into a dataset: missing values in relevant fields (40.1%), different answers for the same value (9.8%), and inconsistent data (0.9%). Only 5.8% of these (missing values) were found with the software methodology. Although only tested by a single user, the software may suggest increased efficacy and warrants further examination to accurately assess the merit of replacing traditional methods of data recording for beach monitoring programmes.