New colonisers drive the increase of the emerging loggerhead turtle nesting in Western Mediterranean
Abstract The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) is sensitive to climate change and is responding by colonising the Western Mediterranean. To understand the rapid nesting increase in recent years in Spain, we sampled 45 hatchlings from 8 nests between 2016 and 2019. We sequenced a mtDNA D‐loop r...
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Nature Portfolio
2024-01-01
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Series: | Scientific Reports |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-51664-w |
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author | Astrid Luna-Ortiz Gisela Marín-Capuz Elena Abella José Luis Crespo-Picazo Fernando Escribano Guillem Félix Silvia Giralt Jesús Tomás Cinta Pegueroles Marta Pascual Carlos Carreras |
author_facet | Astrid Luna-Ortiz Gisela Marín-Capuz Elena Abella José Luis Crespo-Picazo Fernando Escribano Guillem Félix Silvia Giralt Jesús Tomás Cinta Pegueroles Marta Pascual Carlos Carreras |
author_sort | Astrid Luna-Ortiz |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Abstract The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) is sensitive to climate change and is responding by colonising the Western Mediterranean. To understand the rapid nesting increase in recent years in Spain, we sampled 45 hatchlings from 8 nests between 2016 and 2019. We sequenced a mtDNA D‐loop region, genotyped 2291 SNPs using 2bRAD and collected data on clutch size, hatching success, and incubation duration. We confirmed that the colonisation has a Mediterranean and Atlantic mixed origin and we detected that these nests were laid by different females, except for two nests within the same season. Our results suggest that the recent increase in nesting is due to an increase in the number of colonising individuals rather than females born in the same area returning to breed. We hypothesize that this increase in the number of colonisers results from successful conservation efforts, feminisation of the populations of origin and earlier sexual maturation. However, the percentage of offspring females produced in Spain suggests that future returning individuals will aid to the settlement of the new population. These results allow defining the current status of this colonisation although future efforts are needed to detect remigrants to confirm the establishment of a resident population. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-08T12:38:53Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-eb6c739576ca43008ab723e23b1607d3 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2045-2322 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-08T12:38:53Z |
publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
publisher | Nature Portfolio |
record_format | Article |
series | Scientific Reports |
spelling | doaj.art-eb6c739576ca43008ab723e23b1607d32024-01-21T12:19:28ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222024-01-0114111310.1038/s41598-024-51664-wNew colonisers drive the increase of the emerging loggerhead turtle nesting in Western MediterraneanAstrid Luna-Ortiz0Gisela Marín-Capuz1Elena Abella2José Luis Crespo-Picazo3Fernando Escribano4Guillem Félix5Silvia Giralt6Jesús Tomás7Cinta Pegueroles8Marta Pascual9Carlos Carreras10Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics and IrBio, University of BarcelonaDepartment of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics and IrBio, University of BarcelonaBETA Technological Center, University of Vic - Central University of CataloniaFundació Oceanogràfic de la Comunitat ValencianaCentro de Recuperación de Fauna Silvestre “El Valle”Consorci per a la Recuperació de la Fauna de les Illes Balears (COFIB), Servei de Protecció d′Espècies. Conselleria Agricultura, Pesca i Medi Natural. Govern de les Illes BalearsFundación para la Conservación y la Recuperación de Animales Marinos (CRAM)Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, University of ValenciaDepartment of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics and IrBio, University of BarcelonaDepartment of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics and IrBio, University of BarcelonaDepartment of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics and IrBio, University of BarcelonaAbstract The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) is sensitive to climate change and is responding by colonising the Western Mediterranean. To understand the rapid nesting increase in recent years in Spain, we sampled 45 hatchlings from 8 nests between 2016 and 2019. We sequenced a mtDNA D‐loop region, genotyped 2291 SNPs using 2bRAD and collected data on clutch size, hatching success, and incubation duration. We confirmed that the colonisation has a Mediterranean and Atlantic mixed origin and we detected that these nests were laid by different females, except for two nests within the same season. Our results suggest that the recent increase in nesting is due to an increase in the number of colonising individuals rather than females born in the same area returning to breed. We hypothesize that this increase in the number of colonisers results from successful conservation efforts, feminisation of the populations of origin and earlier sexual maturation. However, the percentage of offspring females produced in Spain suggests that future returning individuals will aid to the settlement of the new population. These results allow defining the current status of this colonisation although future efforts are needed to detect remigrants to confirm the establishment of a resident population.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-51664-w |
spellingShingle | Astrid Luna-Ortiz Gisela Marín-Capuz Elena Abella José Luis Crespo-Picazo Fernando Escribano Guillem Félix Silvia Giralt Jesús Tomás Cinta Pegueroles Marta Pascual Carlos Carreras New colonisers drive the increase of the emerging loggerhead turtle nesting in Western Mediterranean Scientific Reports |
title | New colonisers drive the increase of the emerging loggerhead turtle nesting in Western Mediterranean |
title_full | New colonisers drive the increase of the emerging loggerhead turtle nesting in Western Mediterranean |
title_fullStr | New colonisers drive the increase of the emerging loggerhead turtle nesting in Western Mediterranean |
title_full_unstemmed | New colonisers drive the increase of the emerging loggerhead turtle nesting in Western Mediterranean |
title_short | New colonisers drive the increase of the emerging loggerhead turtle nesting in Western Mediterranean |
title_sort | new colonisers drive the increase of the emerging loggerhead turtle nesting in western mediterranean |
url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-51664-w |
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