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Simantiris N. The impact of climate change on sea turtles: Current knowledge, scientometrics, and mitigation strategies. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 923:171354. [PMID: 38460688 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/11/2024]
Abstract
Sea turtles are one of the most significant groups of marine species, playing a key role in the sustainability and conservation of marine ecosystems and the food chain. These emblematic species are threatened by several natural and anthropogenic pressures, and climate change is increasingly reported as one of the most important threats to sea turtles, affecting sea turtles at all stages of their life cycle and at both their marine and coastal habitats. The effect of climate change is expressed as global warming, sea-level rise, extreme storms, and alterations in predation and diseases' patterns, posing a potentially negative impact on sea turtles. In this systematic review, the author presented the current knowledge and research outcomes on the impact of climate change on sea turtles. Moreover, this study determined trends and hotspots in keywords, country collaborations, authors, and publications in the field through a scientometric analysis. Finally, this article reviewed proposed mitigation strategies by researchers, marine protected area (MPA) managers, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to reduce the impact of climate change on the conservation of sea turtles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolaos Simantiris
- MEDASSET (Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles), Likavittou 1C, Athens, 10632, Greece; Ionian University, Department of Informatics, Corfu, 49132, Greece.
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Lyons MP, von Holle B, Weishampel JF. Why do sea turtle nests fail? Modeling clutch loss across the southeastern United States. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Marta P. Lyons
- Department of Biology University of Central Florida Orlando Florida USA
| | - Betsy von Holle
- Department of Biology University of Central Florida Orlando Florida USA
- National Science Foundation Alexandria Virginia USA
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Morphometrics and blood analytes of leatherback sea turtle hatchlings (Dermochelys coriacea) from Florida: reference intervals, temporal trends with clutch deposition date, and body size correlations. J Comp Physiol B 2022; 192:313-324. [PMID: 34997274 DOI: 10.1007/s00360-021-01422-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Revised: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
The northwest Atlantic leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) population is exhibiting decreasing trends along numerous nesting beaches. Since population health and viability are inherently linked, it is important to establish species- and life-stage class-specific blood analyte reference intervals (RIs) so that effects of future disturbances on organismal health can be better understood. For hatchling leatherbacks, the objectives of this study were to (1) establish RIs for morphometrics and blood analytes; (2) evaluate correlations between hatchling morphometrics, blood analytes, and hatching success; and (3) determine temporal trends in hatchling morphometrics and blood analytes across nesting season. Blood samples were collected from 176 naturally emerging leatherback hatchlings from 18 clutches. Reference intervals were established for morphometrics and blood analytes. Negative relationships were noted between hatchling mass and packed cell volume, total white blood cells, heterophils, lymphocytes, and total protein and between body condition index (BCI) and immature red blood cells (RBC), RBC polychromasia and anisocytosis, and total protein. Clutch deposition date showed positive relationships with lymphocytes and total protein, and negative relationships with hatchling mass and BCI. Hatching success was positively correlated with mass, and negatively with total protein and glucose, suggesting that nutritional provisions in eggs, incubation time, and/or metabolic rates could change later in the season and affect survivorship. These various observed correlations provide evidence for increased physiological stress (e.g., inflammation, subclinical dehydration) in hatchlings emerging later in nesting season, presumably due to increased nest temperatures or other environmental factors (e.g., moisture/rainfall). Data reported herein provide morphometric and blood analyte data for leatherback hatchlings and will allow for future investigations into spatiotemporal trends and responses to various stressors.
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Patrício AR, Hawkes LA, Monsinjon JR, Godley BJ, Fuentes MMPB. Climate change and marine turtles: recent advances and future directions. ENDANGER SPECIES RES 2021. [DOI: 10.3354/esr01110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate change is a threat to marine turtles that is expected to affect all of their life stages. To guide future research, we conducted a review of the most recent literature on this topic, highlighting knowledge gains and research gaps since a similar previous review in 2009. Most research has been focussed on the terrestrial life history phase, where expected impacts will range from habitat loss and decreased reproductive success to feminization of populations, but changes in reproductive periodicity, shifts in latitudinal ranges, and changes in foraging success are all expected in the marine life history phase. Models have been proposed to improve estimates of primary sex ratios, while technological advances promise a better understanding of how climate can influence different life stages and habitats. We suggest a number of research priorities for an improved understanding of how climate change may impact marine turtles, including: improved estimates of primary sex ratios, assessments of the implications of female-biased sex ratios and reduced male production, assessments of the variability in upper thermal limits of clutches, models of beach sediment movement under sea level rise, and assessments of impacts on foraging grounds. Lastly, we suggest that it is not yet possible to recommend manipulating aspects of turtle nesting ecology, as the evidence base with which to understand the results of such interventions is not robust enough, but that strategies for mitigation of stressors should be helpful, providing they consider the synergistic effects of climate change and other anthropogenic-induced threats to marine turtles, and focus on increasing resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- AR Patrício
- MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ISPA - Instituto Universitário, 1149-041 Lisbon, Portugal
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
| | - LA Hawkes
- Hatherley Laboratories, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Streatham Campus, Exeter EX4 4PS, UK
| | - JR Monsinjon
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6139, South Africa
| | - BJ Godley
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
| | - MMPB Fuentes
- Marine Turtle Research, Ecology and Conservation Group, Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
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Gammon M, Fossette S, McGrath G, Mitchell N. A Systematic Review of Metabolic Heat in Sea Turtle Nests and Methods to Model Its Impact on Hatching Success. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.556379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
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López-Mendilaharsu M, Giffoni B, Monteiro D, Prosdocimi L, Vélez-Rubio GM, Fallabrino A, Estrades A, Santos AS, Lara PH, Pires T, Tiwari M, Bolten AB, Marcovaldi MÂ. Multiple-threats analysis for loggerhead sea turtles in the southwest Atlantic Ocean. ENDANGER SPECIES RES 2020. [DOI: 10.3354/esr01025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Priority-setting approaches for widely distributed and long-lived species can be challenging. This is especially true for sea turtles, which are species of conservation concern. The aim of this study was to conduct a detailed analysis of threats to identify, quantify and prioritize the main impacts to the loggerhead Caretta caretta population in the southwest Atlantic (SWA) region. A matrix of relative threats was constructed. Threats were identified and classified for 8 different life stages (nesting females, eggs, hatchlings, swim-frenzy transitional stage, juveniles-neritic, juveniles-oceanic, adults-neritic, adults-oceanic) and for 3 ecosystems inhabited by sea turtles (terrestrial, neritic and oceanic). Results indicated that fisheries bycatch represents a major threat for loggerheads in the SWA. The trawl fishery was identified as the main source of mortality for neritic juvenile and adult turtles, whereas juveniles in oceanic areas are mostly impacted by surface longlines. In terrestrial environments, eggs and hatchlings are mainly affected by habitat alteration and by native and exotic predators. Loggerheads have shown a positive nesting trend at their main nesting beaches in the SWA, probably due to long-term conservation efforts to reduce mortality of the different life stages within the terrestrial zone. However, the high mortality rates of juveniles and sub-adults documented at some known foraging grounds represent a reason for concern, as this may affect the overall population trend in the future. This threat analysis provides a tool to review the goals of national action plans, prioritize actions and optimize the allocation of management resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- M López-Mendilaharsu
- Fundação Pró-Tamar, Rua Rubens Guelli 134/ 307, Itaigara - Salvador, CEP: 41815-135 Bahia, Brazil
| | - B Giffoni
- Fundação Pró-Tamar, Rua Rubens Guelli 134/ 307, Itaigara - Salvador, CEP: 41815-135 Bahia, Brazil
| | - D Monteiro
- Núcleo de Educação e Monitoramento Ambiental - NEMA, Rua Maria Araújo 450, 96207-480 Rio Grande, RS, Brazil
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação da Megafauna Marinha, EcoMega, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, FURG, 96203-900 Rio Grande, RS, Brazil
| | - L Prosdocimi
- Programa Regional de Investigación y Conservación de Tortugas Marinas de la Argentina (PRICTMA), 1609 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - GM Vélez-Rubio
- Karumbé NGO, Zoo Villa Dolores, 11600 Montevideo, Uruguay
- Centro Universitario Regional del Este (CURE), Universidad de la República, 27000 Rocha, Uruguay
| | - A Fallabrino
- Karumbé NGO, Zoo Villa Dolores, 11600 Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - A Estrades
- Karumbé NGO, Zoo Villa Dolores, 11600 Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - AS Santos
- Fundação Pró-Tamar, Rua Rubens Guelli 134/ 307, Itaigara - Salvador, CEP: 41815-135 Bahia, Brazil
| | - PH Lara
- Fundação Pró-Tamar, Rua Rubens Guelli 134/ 307, Itaigara - Salvador, CEP: 41815-135 Bahia, Brazil
| | - T Pires
- Fundação Pró-Tamar, Rua Rubens Guelli 134/ 307, Itaigara - Salvador, CEP: 41815-135 Bahia, Brazil
| | - M Tiwari
- NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service, Marine Turtle Ecology & Assessment Program, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, California 92034, USA
| | - AB Bolten
- Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research and Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA
| | - MÂ Marcovaldi
- Fundação Pró-Tamar, Rua Rubens Guelli 134/ 307, Itaigara - Salvador, CEP: 41815-135 Bahia, Brazil
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Gleason FH, Allerstorfer M, Lilje O. Newly emerging diseases of marine turtles, especially sea turtle egg fusariosis (SEFT), caused by species in the Fusarium solani complex (FSSC). Mycology 2020; 11:184-194. [PMID: 33062381 PMCID: PMC7534349 DOI: 10.1080/21501203.2019.1710303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Sea turtles are presently considered severely endangered species that are historically threatened by many environmental factors. Recently, additional threats to sea turtles from two pathogenic species of fungi in the Fusarium solani species complex (F. falciforme and F. keratoplasticum) have been identified. These species infect marine turtle eggs, causing sea turtle egg fusariosis, and kill their embryos, with recent reports of hatch-failure in seven globally distributed species of endangered sea turtles (Caretta caretta, Chelonia mydas, Dermochelys coriaceae, Eretmochelys imbricata, Lepidochelys olivacea, Lepidochelys kempi and Natator depressus). Mycelia and spores of pathogenic species of Fusarium are produced in disturbed terrestrial soils and are transported to the ocean in coastal run off. We propose that these fungi grow on floating particles of plant tissues (leaves and wood), animal tissues, silt and plastics, which are carried by wind and currents and the turtles themselves to the beaches where the turtles lay their eggs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank H Gleason
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Monika Allerstorfer
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Osu Lilje
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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