Encouraging outlook for recovery of a once severely exploited marine megaherbivore
(2008) In Global Ecology and Biogeography 17(2). p.297-304- Abstract
- Aim To critically review the status of the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) using the best available scientific studies as there is a prevailing view that this species is globally endangered and its marine ecosystem functions compromised. Location Ogasawara (Japan), Hawaii (USA), Great Barrier Reef (Australia), Florida (USA), Tortuguero (Costa Rica). Methods We compiled seasonal nesting activity data from all reliable continuous long-term studies (> 25 years), which comprised data series for six of the world's major green turtle rookeries. We estimated the underlying time-specific trend in these six rookery-specific nester or nest abundance series using a generalized smoothing spline regression approach. Results Estimated rates of... (More)
- Aim To critically review the status of the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) using the best available scientific studies as there is a prevailing view that this species is globally endangered and its marine ecosystem functions compromised. Location Ogasawara (Japan), Hawaii (USA), Great Barrier Reef (Australia), Florida (USA), Tortuguero (Costa Rica). Methods We compiled seasonal nesting activity data from all reliable continuous long-term studies (> 25 years), which comprised data series for six of the world's major green turtle rookeries. We estimated the underlying time-specific trend in these six rookery-specific nester or nest abundance series using a generalized smoothing spline regression approach. Results Estimated rates of nesting population increase ranged from c. 4-14% per annum over the past two to three decades. These rates varied considerably among the rookeries, reflecting the level of historical exploitation. Similar increases in nesting population were also evident for many other green turtle stocks that have been monitored for shorter durations than the long-term studies presented here. Main conclusions We show that six of the major green turtle nesting populations in the world have been increasing over the past two to three decades following protection from human hazards such as exploitation of eggs and turtles. This population recovery or rebound capacity is encouraging and suggests that the green turtle is not on the brink of global extinction even though some stocks have been seriously depleted and are still below historical abundance levels. This demonstrates that relatively simple conservation strategies can have a profound effect on the recovery of once-depleted green turtle stocks and presumably the restoration of their ecological function as major marine consumers. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1198694
- author
- Chaloupka, Milani ; Bjorndal, Karen A ; Balazs, George H ; Bolten, Alan B ; Ehrhart, Llewellyn M ; Limpus, Colin J ; Suganuma, Hiroyuki ; Troëng, Sebastian LU and Yamaguchi, Manami
- organization
- publishing date
- 2008
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, conservation, stock recovery, marine
- in
- Global Ecology and Biogeography
- volume
- 17
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 297 - 304
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000252966000015
- scopus:39049158387
- ISSN
- 1466-8238
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00367.x
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Animal Ecology (Closed 2011) (011012001)
- id
- b74436c1-6d6b-44e9-ac81-1310b84a6aca (old id 1198694)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 11:48:06
- date last changed
- 2022-03-13 00:55:49
@article{b74436c1-6d6b-44e9-ac81-1310b84a6aca,
abstract = {{Aim To critically review the status of the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) using the best available scientific studies as there is a prevailing view that this species is globally endangered and its marine ecosystem functions compromised. Location Ogasawara (Japan), Hawaii (USA), Great Barrier Reef (Australia), Florida (USA), Tortuguero (Costa Rica). Methods We compiled seasonal nesting activity data from all reliable continuous long-term studies (> 25 years), which comprised data series for six of the world's major green turtle rookeries. We estimated the underlying time-specific trend in these six rookery-specific nester or nest abundance series using a generalized smoothing spline regression approach. Results Estimated rates of nesting population increase ranged from c. 4-14% per annum over the past two to three decades. These rates varied considerably among the rookeries, reflecting the level of historical exploitation. Similar increases in nesting population were also evident for many other green turtle stocks that have been monitored for shorter durations than the long-term studies presented here. Main conclusions We show that six of the major green turtle nesting populations in the world have been increasing over the past two to three decades following protection from human hazards such as exploitation of eggs and turtles. This population recovery or rebound capacity is encouraging and suggests that the green turtle is not on the brink of global extinction even though some stocks have been seriously depleted and are still below historical abundance levels. This demonstrates that relatively simple conservation strategies can have a profound effect on the recovery of once-depleted green turtle stocks and presumably the restoration of their ecological function as major marine consumers.}},
author = {{Chaloupka, Milani and Bjorndal, Karen A and Balazs, George H and Bolten, Alan B and Ehrhart, Llewellyn M and Limpus, Colin J and Suganuma, Hiroyuki and Troëng, Sebastian and Yamaguchi, Manami}},
issn = {{1466-8238}},
keywords = {{green sea turtle; Chelonia mydas; conservation; stock recovery; marine}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{297--304}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Global Ecology and Biogeography}},
title = {{Encouraging outlook for recovery of a once severely exploited marine megaherbivore}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00367.x}},
doi = {{10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00367.x}},
volume = {{17}},
year = {{2008}},
}