One size does not fit all: Importance of adjusting conservation practices for endangered hawksbill turtles to address local nesting habitat needs in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Liles, Michael J.; Peterson, Markus J.; Seminoff, Jeffrey A.; Altamirano, Eduardo; Henriquez, Ana; Gaos, Alexander R.; Gadea, Velkiss; Urteaga, José; Torres, P María de Lourdes; Wallace, Bryan P.; Peterson, Tarla Rai

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2015.02.017

Cited by 37 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Hawksbills have also been identified foraging on coral reefs in other parts of the eastern Pacific (Carrion-Cortez et al, 2013;Heidemeyer et al, 2014;Chacón-Chaverri et al, 2014). However, in the eastern Pacific the hawksbill turtle is renowned for nesting and foraging within mangrove estuaries (Gaos et al, 2012b;Liles et al, 2015). Whether hawksbills use mangrove estuaries in CNP for nesting or foraging remains unknown as we were unable to monitor these systems during the study timeframe.…”

Section: Comm)mentioning

confidence: 79%

Distribution, size range and growth rates of hawksbill turtles at a major foraging ground in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Llamas¹,

Flores

Abrego

et al. 2017

lajar

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ABSTRACT.Hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) inhabiting the eastern Pacific Ocean are one of the world's most threatened marine turtle management units. Despite the fact that knowledge about the status of sea turtles at foraging grounds is a key element for developing the effective conservation strategies, comprehensive studies of hawksbills at foraging habitats in the eastern Pacific remain lacking. For many years anecdotal information indicated Coiba Island National Park in Panama as a potentially important hawksbill foraging ground, which led to the initiation of monitoring surveys in September 2014. Ongoing mark-recapture surveys to assess population status, generate demographic data and identify key foraging sites have been conducted every six months in the park since that time. To date, a total of six monitoring campaigns consisting of four days each have been conducted, leading to the capture and tagging of 186 hawksbills, 51 of which were recaptured at least once. The size range of captured individuals was 30.0 to 75.5 cm and largely comprised of juveniles. Somatic growth rates of individual hawksbills were highly variable, ranging from -0.78 to 7.1 cm year -1 . To our knowledge, these are the first published growth rates for juvenile hawksbill turtles in the eastern Pacific Ocean. When these growth data are combined with information on hawksbill demography and distribution, our findings indicate Coiba Island National Park is one of the most important known foraging sites for hawksbill sea turtles in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

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Section: Comm)mentioning

confidence: 79%

Distribution, size range and growth rates of hawksbill turtles at a major foraging ground in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Llamas¹,

Flores

Abrego

et al. 2017

lajar

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“…Without question, major degradation to these sites, which are under increased anthropogenic pressures (Gaos et al, 2012b;Altamirano, 2014, Liles et al, 2015b, would represent a major hindrance to hawksbill recovery. Of primary concern is the conversion of mangrove habitat to shrimp aquaculture ponds.…”

Section: Conservation Challenges and Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Climate change is also of marked concern to hatching success in these habitats as the nesting beaches throughout the estuaries are of low relief, with minimal elevation change, and eggs are laid <1 m from the water table (Liles et al, 2015b), making them particularly susceptible to inundation and mortality (Fuentes et al, 2013). For the first time at any of the three mangrove estuary sites, in August of 2015 spring tides led to the lethal flooding of more than 30 nests positioned on the highest sand berms in Bahia de Jiquilisco (ES).…”

Section: Conservation Challenges and Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies on nesting beaches have demonstrated differences in habitat selection (i.e., mangrove estuaries vs open-coast beaches) and local conservation realities (e.g., protection vs extraction) among sites, with implications for conservation and recovery of the species (Liles et al, 2015a(Liles et al, , 2015b. Furthermore, whereas hawksbills in the eastern Pacific were previously referred to as a single population (Gaos et al, , 2012a(Gaos et al, , 2012bLiles et al, 2011Liles et al, , 2015aLiles et al, , 2015bWallace et al, 2011), recent genetic research has revealed the existence of multiple stocks in the region, as well as a unique reproductive ecotype represented by hawksbills nesting in mangrove estuaries .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, whereas hawksbills in the eastern Pacific were previously referred to as a single population (Gaos et al, , 2012a(Gaos et al, , 2012bLiles et al, 2011Liles et al, , 2015aLiles et al, , 2015bWallace et al, 2011), recent genetic research has revealed the existence of multiple stocks in the region, as well as a unique reproductive ecotype represented by hawksbills nesting in mangrove estuaries . These findings have heightened interest in understanding differences in nesting levels and conservation scenarios at the various rookeries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Living on the Edge: Hawksbill turtle nesting and conservation along the Eastern Pacific Rim

Gaos

Liles

Gadea

et al. 2017

lajar

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ABSTRACT. Prior to 2007, efforts to monitor and conserve hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the eastern Pacific Ocean were opportunistic and records were virtually non-existent. The first abundance estimates were published in 2010, but contained limited data on the species. Ongoing research since that time has led to the identification of several rookeries, including sites containing large proportions of the overall hawksbill nesting currently known to occur in the region. Monitoring projects were established at several sites and have since provided substantial nesting data on the species. Here we summarize data collected between 1983 and March 2016 from all sites (n = 9) confirmed to host >10 nests in any given season to provide an update on hawksbill nesting in the eastern Pacific. We documented a total of 3,508 hawksbill nests, 265,024 hatchlings and 528 individual nesting females in the region. The vast majority of these records (99.4%, 99.9% and 99.6%, respectively) were generated subsequent to 2007, coinciding with the discovery of eight of the nine rookeries included in this study and the organization of monitoring efforts at those sites, which led to the increased documentation conferred here. Our findings should not be misconstrued as increases in actual nesting or signs of recovery, which could diminish the ongoing need for conservation actions, but rather as optimism, that there is still an opportunity to restore the species in the eastern Pacific. The top three sites in terms of average annual number of nests were Estero Padre Ramos (Nicaragua; 213.2 ± 47.6 nests), Bahia de Jiquilisco (El Salvador; 168.5 ± 46.7 nests) and Aserradores (Nicaragua; 100.0 ± 24.0 nests), and all three sites are located in mangrove estuaries in Central America, highlighting the importance of these rookeries/habitats for the survival and recovery of hawksbills in the region. The remaining six sites received between 6.9 ± 7.3 nests (Costa Careyes, Mexico) and 59.3 ± 17.7 nests (Los Cobanos, El Salvador) annually. By integrating data collected on nesting hawksbills with local conservation realities at the most important known hawksbill rookeries in the eastern 572 2 Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research Pacific, we provide a more holistic view of the conservation status and management needs of the species in this ocean region.

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Diet of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the Gulf of California, Mexico

Reynolds

Kurle

Croll

et al. 2023

Aquatic Conservation

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Hawksbill turtles (n = 56) in a foraging ground around Isla San Jose, Gulf of California, Mexico, were caught, measured, and their skin and scutes sampled. Tissue samples from putative prey species were collected from observed hawksbill feeding areas in the foraging ground. Measurements of each turtle's straight carapace length were used to estimate the average life stage of the population. Tissue samples were processed for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to estimate foraging habits of turtles in this location. The majority (96.4%) of measured individuals' straight carapace length fell in the size range considered to be juveniles. A Bayesian mixing model analysis of the δ13C and δ15N values of hawksbill skin and potential prey indicated that hawksbills consume primarily invertebrates and algae, with lesser contributions from seagrass and mangrove material. There was a positive linear relationship between turtle size and the δ13C values from scute samples, and an increase in the δ13C values of five individuals recaptured in subsequent years suggested a potential location shift from a pelagic habitat in the turtles' post‐hatching, earliest juvenile years to the nearshore foraging area around Isla San Jose in their later juvenile years.

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One size does not fit all: Importance of adjusting conservation practices for endangered hawksbill turtles to address local nesting habitat needs in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Cited by 37 publications

References 55 publications

Distribution, size range and growth rates of hawksbill turtles at a major foraging ground in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Distribution, size range and growth rates of hawksbill turtles at a major foraging ground in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Living on the Edge: Hawksbill turtle nesting and conservation along the Eastern Pacific Rim

Diet of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the Gulf of California, Mexico

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