Mediterranean green turtle population recovery increasingly depends on Lake Bardawil, Egypt
To assign conservation status to a population, its size, trends, and distribution must be estimated. The Mediterranean green turtle population has shown signs of recovering over the past decade, likely in response to nest protection, but satellite tracking suggests adult foraging remains largely res...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989422003389 |
| _version_ | 1797985388528140288 |
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| author | Robin T.E. Snape Damla Beton Sophie Davey Brendan J. Godley Julia Haywood Lucy C.M. Omeyer Meryem Ozkan Annette C. Broderick |
| author_facet | Robin T.E. Snape Damla Beton Sophie Davey Brendan J. Godley Julia Haywood Lucy C.M. Omeyer Meryem Ozkan Annette C. Broderick |
| author_sort | Robin T.E. Snape |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | To assign conservation status to a population, its size, trends, and distribution must be estimated. The Mediterranean green turtle population has shown signs of recovering over the past decade, likely in response to nest protection, but satellite tracking suggests adult foraging remains largely restricted to only a few key sites in the eastern Mediterranean. Previous research suggested that the majority of green turtles nesting at an important rookery in Cyprus, forage in Lake Bardawil, Egypt making an observed population increase dependent on this important site, which is under a high degree of anthropogenic maintenance. Here we provide new data that further demonstrates the importance of Lake Bardawil to green turtles that nest at other major rookeries on Cyprus, in the Karpaz Peninsula, with 74 % of satellite tracked females (n = 19) migrating to this key site. We also report on the first systematic nest counts for this area in over two decades and identify the inter-nesting habitat used by females nesting at these important beaches on the north and south coasts of the Peninsula. Comparing the oldest available 3-year nest count averages (1993–1995), with nest counts undertaken as part of this study (2017–2019), mean annual nest numbers increased from 186 to 554, an increase of 198 %. Our data confirm the continued importance of these beaches for the Mediterranean green turtle population and underscore the reliance of this endangered population on a man-made lagoon for recent increases in clutch counts at monitored beaches. The results highlight the utility of satellite telemetry to inform conservation status assessments and establishing conservation at both nesting and foraging sites across the population. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T07:16:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ff21ce7ffad7416e96d1e38870a8948b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2351-9894 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T07:16:12Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| spelling | doaj.art-ff21ce7ffad7416e96d1e38870a8948b2022-12-22T04:37:56ZengElsevierGlobal Ecology and Conservation2351-98942022-12-0140e02336Mediterranean green turtle population recovery increasingly depends on Lake Bardawil, EgyptRobin T.E. Snape0Damla Beton1Sophie Davey2Brendan J. Godley3Julia Haywood4Lucy C.M. Omeyer5Meryem Ozkan6Annette C. Broderick7SPOT – Society for Protection of Turtles, Levent Apartments Daire 1, Ulus Sokak, Gönyeli, Northern Cyprus; Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9FE, United Kingdom; Corresponding author at: Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9FE, United Kingdom.SPOT – Society for Protection of Turtles, Levent Apartments Daire 1, Ulus Sokak, Gönyeli, Northern CyprusSPOT – Society for Protection of Turtles, Levent Apartments Daire 1, Ulus Sokak, Gönyeli, Northern CyprusSPOT – Society for Protection of Turtles, Levent Apartments Daire 1, Ulus Sokak, Gönyeli, Northern Cyprus; Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9FE, United KingdomCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9FE, United KingdomCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9FE, United KingdomSPOT – Society for Protection of Turtles, Levent Apartments Daire 1, Ulus Sokak, Gönyeli, Northern CyprusSPOT – Society for Protection of Turtles, Levent Apartments Daire 1, Ulus Sokak, Gönyeli, Northern Cyprus; Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9FE, United KingdomTo assign conservation status to a population, its size, trends, and distribution must be estimated. The Mediterranean green turtle population has shown signs of recovering over the past decade, likely in response to nest protection, but satellite tracking suggests adult foraging remains largely restricted to only a few key sites in the eastern Mediterranean. Previous research suggested that the majority of green turtles nesting at an important rookery in Cyprus, forage in Lake Bardawil, Egypt making an observed population increase dependent on this important site, which is under a high degree of anthropogenic maintenance. Here we provide new data that further demonstrates the importance of Lake Bardawil to green turtles that nest at other major rookeries on Cyprus, in the Karpaz Peninsula, with 74 % of satellite tracked females (n = 19) migrating to this key site. We also report on the first systematic nest counts for this area in over two decades and identify the inter-nesting habitat used by females nesting at these important beaches on the north and south coasts of the Peninsula. Comparing the oldest available 3-year nest count averages (1993–1995), with nest counts undertaken as part of this study (2017–2019), mean annual nest numbers increased from 186 to 554, an increase of 198 %. Our data confirm the continued importance of these beaches for the Mediterranean green turtle population and underscore the reliance of this endangered population on a man-made lagoon for recent increases in clutch counts at monitored beaches. The results highlight the utility of satellite telemetry to inform conservation status assessments and establishing conservation at both nesting and foraging sites across the population.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989422003389Green turtleLake BardawilTelemetryState Space ModelPopulation |
| spellingShingle | Robin T.E. Snape Damla Beton Sophie Davey Brendan J. Godley Julia Haywood Lucy C.M. Omeyer Meryem Ozkan Annette C. Broderick Mediterranean green turtle population recovery increasingly depends on Lake Bardawil, Egypt Global Ecology and Conservation Green turtle Lake Bardawil Telemetry State Space Model Population |
| title | Mediterranean green turtle population recovery increasingly depends on Lake Bardawil, Egypt |
| title_full | Mediterranean green turtle population recovery increasingly depends on Lake Bardawil, Egypt |
| title_fullStr | Mediterranean green turtle population recovery increasingly depends on Lake Bardawil, Egypt |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mediterranean green turtle population recovery increasingly depends on Lake Bardawil, Egypt |
| title_short | Mediterranean green turtle population recovery increasingly depends on Lake Bardawil, Egypt |
| title_sort | mediterranean green turtle population recovery increasingly depends on lake bardawil egypt |
| topic | Green turtle Lake Bardawil Telemetry State Space Model Population |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989422003389 |
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