Encouraging outlook for recovery of a once severely exploited marine megaherbivore

    Authors

    M. Chaloupka; K. A. Bjorndal; G. H. Balazs; A. B. Bolten; L. M. Ehrhart; C. J. Limpus; H. Suganuma; S. Troeeng;M. Yamaguchi

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr.

    Keywords

    Chelonia mydas; conservation; green sea turtle; marine; stock recovery; TURTLES CHELONIA-MYDAS; SOMATIC GROWTH DYNAMICS; GREEN TURTLE; SEA-TURTLES; COSTA-RICA; SURVIVAL PROBABILITY; POPULATION; DECLINE; TRENDS; CONSERVATION; Ecology; Geography, Physical

    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.

    Journal Title

    Global Ecology and Biogeography

    Volume

    17

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2008

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    297

    Last Page

    304

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000252966000015

    ISSN

    1466-822X

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