Spatial ecology of critically endangered hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata: implications for management and conservation

Gaos, Alexander R.; Lewison, Rebecca L.; Wallace, Bryan P.; Yañez, Ingrid L.; Liles, Michael J.; Nichols, Wallace J.; Baquero, Andrés; Hasbún, Carlos R.; Vasquez, Mauricio; Urteaga, José; Seminoff, Jeffrey A.

doi:10.3354/meps09591

Cited by 67 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Los juveniles se encuentran principalmente en arrecifes de coral tropicales y por lo general se les ve a lo largo del día descansando en cuevas y salientes alrededor de estos arrecifes (Lutz y Musick, 1997). Como especie de marcado carácter migratorio (Meylan y Donnelly, 1999), también se les puede encontrar en una amplia variedad de hábitats, desde el mar abierto hasta lagunas y manglares en estuarios (Lutz y Musick, 1997;Gaos et al, 2012a;Gaos et al, 2012b). Aunque no se sabe mucho sobre las preferencias de hábitat durante sus primeros años de vida, se asume que la tortuga carey, al igual que otras tortugas marinas jóvenes, son completamente pelágicas, con lo que hacen del mar abierto su hogar en la primera etapa de su vida (Houghton et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Population Study of the Hawksbill Turtle Eretmochelys imbricata (Cheloniidae) in the Southern Pacific region of Colombia

López¹,

Llanos²

2014

Acta biol. colomb.

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RESUMENEl objetivo de esta investigación fue conocer aspectos poblacionales, biológicos y ecológicos de las tortugas carey (Eretmochelys imbricata) presentes en el Pacífico sur de Colombia (Departamento del Cauca), para esto se tomó información de morfometría, se revisó el estado de salud de los individuos y se tomaron muestras de sangre para valoración de química sanguínea. Durante siete meses de muestreo se capturaron 25 tortugas carey (16 individuos diferentes) en los arrecifes del Parque Nacional Natural Gorgona, con un porcentaje de recaptura del 46 %. Aunque no se notaron problemas evidentes de salud, la mayoría de animales presentaron gran parte del caparazón cubierto de algas filamentosas y algunos epibiontes sobre el plastrón y el caparazón. La Longitud Curva Caparazón (LCC) mostró una mayor proporción de individuos con tallas entre 37 y 45 cm de longitud (prom. 42,3 cm; min. 37,5 cm; max. 58 cm). Por medio de la prueba de Mann Whitney U, se comparó la LCC de los 16 individuos diferentes capturados en el PNN Gorgona, con 11 individuos capturados en la zona del litoral del Departamento del Cauca, encontrándose diferencias significativas entre estos dos grupos, donde los animales presentes en el PNN Gorgona fueron de mayor talla que los presentes en el continente (Z = -2,59; p = 0,007). Los valores de ácido úrico se encontraron por encima de los valores de referencia.Palabras clave: bioquímica sanguínea, longitud curvo caparazón, Parque Nacional Natural Gorgona. ABSTRACTThe objective of this research was to determine biological and ecological population characteristics of the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) found in the southern Colombian Pacific department of Cauca. Morphometric measurements were recorded, the health status of individuals was reviewed, and blood samples were taken for a biochemistry assessment. During the seven months of the investigation, 25 hawksbill turtles were caught (16 different individuals) on the reefs of Gorgona Natural National Park. Forty-six percent of the total numbers of turtles assessed were recaptured during the study period. While no obvious health problems were noted, most animals possessed epibionts and filamentous algae covering the carapace, some parts of the limbs, as well as on their neck. Curved carapace length (CCL) showed the highest proportion of individuals were between 37 and 45 cm.

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Section: Introductionunclassified

Population Study of the Hawksbill Turtle Eretmochelys imbricata (Cheloniidae) in the Southern Pacific region of Colombia

López¹,

Llanos²

2014

Acta biol. colomb.

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“…data). Mangrove estuaries are one of the most resource-rich habitats along the eastern Pacific coastline (Dewalt et al, 1996;Gaos et al, 2012b) and an abundance of highquality prey (e.g., invertebrates) in these habitats may provide sufficient energy resources to enable nesting during consecutive years at these study sties. Additionally, adult hawksbills in the eastern Pacific undertake relatively short post-nesting migrations between nesting and foraging grounds (maximum = 283.1 km) or are non-migratory altogether (Gaos et al, 2012a(Gaos et al, , 2012b, a behavior that would further facilitate nesting during consecutive seasons.…”

Section: Nesting Distribution and Abundancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…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%

“…Oviposition is an energy-demanding process and female sea turtles often skip reproductive years if they do not have sufficient fat reserves, instead remaining in foraging areas to continue to feed and accumulate the energy required (see refs in Santos et al, 2010). Our remigration intervals were pooled from three of our study sites located in the Central (n = 2) and South (n = 1) American regions (Table 2), from which a total of 18 post-nesting hawksbills have been tracked via satellite telemetry, the majority (n = 15; 83.3%) to foraging grounds located in mangrove estuaries (Gaos et al, 2012a(Gaos et al, , 2012bGaos & Seminoff, unpubl. data).…”

Section: Nesting Distribution and Abundancementioning

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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Insights into identifying habitat hot spots and migratory corridors of green turtles in the South China region

Gu²,

et al. 2018

Aquatic Conservation

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1. Sea turtles are globally endangered, and face daily anthropogenic threats, such as direct take, by-catch, and habitat degradation. Current research efforts on sea turtles in the South China region mainly focus on captivity and husbandry, haematology and blood chemistry, and nesting ecology. Published information on the marine habitat use of wild populations is limited.2. This situation therefore creates a pressing need for scientific research on freeranging sea turtles as a foundation for habitat management and species protection in South China. In this study, habitat use and oceanic movement of nesting, and bycatch or stranded green turtles, were determined by satellite tracking combined with home-range analysis.3. Coupled with previous findings, the foraging grounds of several sea turtle species (green turtle Chelonia mydas, hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata and loggerhead Caretta caretta) were mainly distributed along the coasts of Hainan Island Province and Guangdong Province, mainland China, as well as Taiwan and the Philippines, and the outlying islands in the South China Sea and East China Sea. 4. Habitat hot spots and migratory corridors of green turtles, in particular nesting turtles in South China, were identified. Coastal waters near Wanning City of Hainan Island, the eastern Leizhou Peninsula, Iriomote-jima and Ishigaki-shima of the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and Dao Bach Long Vi of Vietnam serve as foraging grounds for nesting green turtles from different origins in South China. Moreover, the Paracel (Xisha) and the Pratas (Dongsha) Islands in the South China Sea, Huidong Gangkou, and its vicinity in mainland China, and Liouciou Island and Penghu Island of Taiwan contain both nesting sites and foraging grounds for green turtles. 5. The sites that are associated with migratory corridors, in particular Hainan Island, eastern Leizhou Peninsula, and Liouciou Island, which currently lack conservation plans for sea turtles, should be given higher priority for habitat and species protection. for their great efforts to facilitate the tracking on Liouciou Island, Taiwan. Connie Ka-yan NG thanks Denise M. Parker for her professional scientific support of the tracking research. ORCIDConnie Ka Yan Ng http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8042-9947

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Spatial ecology of critically endangered hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata: implications for management and conservation

Cited by 67 publications

References 51 publications

Population Study of the Hawksbill Turtle Eretmochelys imbricata (Cheloniidae) in the Southern Pacific region of Colombia

Population Study of the Hawksbill Turtle Eretmochelys imbricata (Cheloniidae) in the Southern Pacific region of Colombia

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

Insights into identifying habitat hot spots and migratory corridors of green turtles in the South China region

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