Encouraging outlook for recovery of a once severely exploited marine megaherbivore

Authors: Chaloupka, Milani; Bjorndal, Karen A.¹; Balazs, George H.²; Bolten, Alan B.¹; Ehrhart, Llewellyn M.³; Limpus, Colin J.⁴; Suganuma, Hiroyuki⁵; Troëng, Sebastian⁶; Yamaguchi, Manami⁷

Source: Global Ecology & Biogeography, Volume 17, Number 2, March 2008 , pp. 297-304(8)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

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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.

Keywords: Chelonia mydas; conservation; green sea turtle; marine; stock recovery

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00367.x

Affiliations: 1: Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research and Department of Zoology, University of Florida, PO Box 118525, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA, 2: Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA, 3: Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, PO Box 162368, Orlando, FL 32816 USA and Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute, 4020 Highway A1A, Melbourne Beach, FL 32951, USA, 4: Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, PO Box 15155, City East, Queensland, 4002, Australia, 5: Everlasting Nature of Asia, Acty Part II 4F Nishi-Kanagawa 3-17-8, Kanagawa-Ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 221-0822 Japan, 6: Caribbean Conservation Corporation, Apdo Postal 246-2050, San Pedro, Costa Rica, and Department of Animal Ecology, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden, 7: Ogasawara Marine Center, Byobudani Chichi-jima, Ogasawara, Tokyo 100-2101, Japan

Publication date: 2008-03-01

Encouraging outlook for recovery of a once severely exploited marine megaherbivore

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