Nesting range expansion of loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean: Phenology, spatial distribution, and conservation implications

Global Ecology and Conservation

Fulvio Maffucci¹  Cecilia Mancusi²  Jesús Tomás³  Françoise Claro⁴  Adolfo Marco⁵  Nicola Marrone⁶  Andrea Camedda⁷  Imed Jribi⁸  Carlos Carreras⁸  Salvatore Urso⁹  Sandra Hochscheid^1,10  Elena Abella^1,10  Ohiana Revuelta^1,11  Luana Papetti^1,12  Mohamed Nejmeddine Bradai^1,13  Giuseppe Andrea de Lucia^1,14 

[1] Corresponding author.;BIOME Lab Sfax Faculty of Sciences, University of Sfax, Route Soukra 1171, Sfax, Tunisia;Caretta Calabria Conservation, Cosenza, Italy;Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics and IRBio, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain;Environmental Protection Agency-Tuscany Region (ARPAT), Sea Sector, Via Marradi 114, 56127 Livorno, Italy;Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Sevilla, Spain;Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, INSTM – Sfax, Tunisia;Institute of Anthropic Impact and Sustainability in Marine Environment - National Research Council Oristano Section, Località Sa Mardini 09170 Torregrande, Oristano, Italy;Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, University of Valencia, Spain,;Marine Turtle Research Group, Department of Marine Animal Conservation and Public Engagement, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy;TartAmare‑Centro di educazione ambientale e di didattica sul mare, Centro per la conservazione delle tartarughe marine, Via San Sebastiano 84, 58100 Grosseto, Italy;TartaLazio, Regione Lazio, Regional Park Riviera di Ulisse, Roma, Italy;Technological Centre in Biodiversity, Ecology and Environmental and Food Technology -BETA-, Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (Uvic-UCC), Spain;UMS OFB MNHN CNRS PatriNat, Observatoire des tortues marines, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France;

关键词: Loggerhead sea turtle;    Reproductive phenology;    Climate change;    Nest site selection;    Anthropogenic threats;    Range expansion;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Global warming is affecting habitat quality and availability on our planet and some species are predicted or are by now changing their distribution range. Here we show that loggerhead turtles have already started to expand their nesting range into the Western Mediterranean, which has until recently hosted only sporadic nests. We compiled information on nesting activity from beaches surrounding the Western Mediterranean and collected metadata on loggerhead turtle nests in Spain, France, Italy, and Tunisia between 2010 and 2020 to provide an exhaustive overview on the phenomenon of emerging new nest sites for loggerhead turtles. The number of recorded nests has increased drastically since 2013 from 1 to 3 nests/year to a record number of 84 registered in 2020. While this increase may partly be explained by grown awareness and reporting by citizens, there is no doubt of an upward trend in nesting activity. The nests are unevenly distributed over the study area with most nests occurring on the coasts of the warmer Tyrrhenian Sea. A hotspot analysis identified beaches in SW Italy, SE Sardinia, and NW Tunisia with statistically significant clustering of nests. Within these hotspots, three beaches in SW Italy and one in Tunisia had nests at least four out of the five last years. Nesting phenology corresponds to that of Eastern Mediterranean rookeries, and mean hatching success of naturally incubating, non-manipulated nests was 66 %, although there was variability across the region. Mean incubation durations also varied between countries indicating a diversity in inferred sex ratios, with sufficient female production to foster future colonisation of this region. Unfortunately, these beaches are already under high tourist pressure and subject to intense coastal development, imposing many threats to the females, eggs, and hatchlings. Thus, while this study reveals the unique opportunity to witness and study an ongoing new colonisation process in loggerhead turtles, it also calls for urgent proactive conservation actions to mitigate these threats and allow the turtles to establish new rookeries.

【 授权许可】

Unknown