scholarly journals Predicting Wave Wash Overs for Sea Turtle Nests

Eos ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Derouin
Keyword(s):  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Coastal Species ◽  
Wave Wash

To better protect coastal species, researchers developed a model that predicts harmful wash overs with 83% accuracy.

scholarly journals Beach Vitex (Vitex rotundifolia): An Invasive Coastal Species

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew M. Cousins ◽  
Jeanne Briggs ◽  
Chuck Gresham ◽  
Jack Whetstone ◽  
Ted Whitwell
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vegetative Reproduction ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Native Plant Species ◽  
Invasive Shrub ◽  
Coastal Species

AbstractBeach vitex is a salt-tolerant, perennial, invasive shrub that has naturalized in coastal areas of the southeastern United States. Since its introduction in the 1980s, this Pacific Rim native has invaded many fragile beach-dune ecosystems along the Mid-Atlantic, Southern Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico. Large-scale monocultures of beach vitex supplant native species through rapid vegetative reproduction and seed production. Fruits are capable of water-based dispersal, allowing for potential rapid range expansion in coastal areas. Ecosystem damage resulting from exclusion of native plant species by beach vitex and fears associated with potential negative effects on sea turtle nesting have served to promote the control and survey efforts presently underway in coastal areas of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland.

scholarly journals Exposure of Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nests to Waves in the Florida Panhandle

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 2654
Author(s):  
Matthew Ware ◽  
Simona A. Ceriani ◽  
Joseph W. Long ◽  
Mariana M.P.B. Fuentes
Keyword(s):  
Management Strategies ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Threat Assessment ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Wave Exposure ◽  
Wave Runup ◽  
Loggerhead Sea Turtle ◽  
Emergence Success ◽  
Florida Panhandle ◽  
Wave Wash

Wave wash-over poses a significant threat to sea turtle nests, with sustained exposure to waves potentially resulting in embryonic mortality and altered hatchling locomotor function, size, and sex ratios. Identifying where and under what conditions wave exposure becomes a problem, and deciding what action(s) to take (if any), is a common issue for sea turtle managers. To determine the exposure of sea turtle nests to waves and identify potential impacts to hatchling productivity, we integrated a geographic information system with remote sensing and wave runup modeling across 40 nesting beaches used by the Northern Gulf of Mexico Loggerhead Recovery Unit. Our models indicate that, on average, approximately 50% of the available beach area and 34% of nesting locations per nesting beach face a significant risk of wave exposure, particularly during tropical storms. Field data from beaches in the Florida Panhandle show that 42.3% of all nest locations reported wave exposure, which resulted in a 45% and 46% decline in hatching and emergence success, respectively, relative to their undisturbed counterparts. Historical nesting frequency at each beach and modeled exposure to waves were considered to identify priority locations with high nesting density which either experience low risk of wave exposure, as these are good candidates for protection as refugia for sustained hatchling production, or which have high wave exposure where efforts to reduce impacts are most warranted. Nine beaches in the eastern Florida Panhandle were identified as priority sites for future efforts such as habitat protection or research and development of management strategies. This modeling exercise offers a flexible approach for a threat assessment integration into research and management questions relevant to sea turtle conservation, as well as for other beach species and human uses of the coastal environment.

scholarly journals Leave No Trace ordinances for coastal species management: influences on sea turtle nesting success

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 197-207
Author(s):  
M Ware ◽  
MMPB Fuentes
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Nesting Success ◽  
Marine Debris ◽  
Physical Damage ◽  
Leave No Trace ◽  
Coastal Species ◽  
Gulf State ◽  
Species Management ◽  
The Impact

Coastal environments provide critical ecosystem services but experience a number of threats including marine debris and abandoned beach equipment. To address this threat, municipalities have begun enacting policy measures such as Leave No Trace ordinances. The impact of these ordinances on coastal species management has not yet been established. To evaluate the effectiveness of Leave No Trace ordinances in coastal species management, sea turtle crawl distribution, nesting success, and the frequency of obstructed crawls pre- and post-ordinance at a loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta nesting beach in Alabama, USA, were compared between 3 treatment groups: (1) Gulf Shores and Orange Beach with new Leave No Trace ordinances enacted in 2016, (2) Fort Morgan with no ordinance, and (3) the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and Gulf State Park with Leave No Trace ordinances but no resident human population. The ordinance had no significant effect on crawl distribution or nesting success across the study site post-ordinance. However, the frequency of obstructed crawls in populated areas declined by 18.1% with the ordinance. The presence of a resident population was a more significant driver of obstructed crawls than the ordinance, as the Bon Secour NWR and Gulf State Park had fewer obstructed crawls than either populated treatment. With time and increased compliance, Leave No Trace ordinances may have the potential to improve coastal species management and increase coastal ecosystem services through reduced marine debris entanglement and ingestion, reduced physical damage to the environment, and increased tourism revenue and environmental education.

Aeromonas induced polyostotic osteomyelitis in a juvenile loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta

2018 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Pace ◽  
L Meomartino ◽  
A Affuso ◽  
G Mennonna ◽  
S Hochscheid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Caretta Caretta ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Reconstructing sea turtle ontogenetic habitat shifts through trace element analysis of bone tissue

2019 ◽  
Vol 608 ◽  
pp. 247-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
MD Ramirez ◽  
JA Miller ◽  
E Parks ◽  
L Avens ◽  
LR Goshe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Bone Tissue ◽  
Trace Element Analysis ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Ontogenetic Habitat Shifts

Structural description of sea turtle fibropapilloma

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 585-591
Author(s):  
Luana Melo ◽  
Isabel Velasco ◽  
Julia Aquino ◽  
Rosangela Rodrigues ◽  
Edris Lopes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Green Turtle ◽  
Chelonia Mydas ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Tumor Formation ◽  
Neoplastic Disease ◽  
Structural Description ◽  
Chemical Carcinogens ◽  
Epidermal Proliferation ◽  
Turtle Population ◽  
Bulky Mass

Fibropapillomatosis is a neoplastic disease that affects sea turtles. It is characterized by multiple papillomas, fibropapillomas and cutaneous and/or visceral fibromas. Although its etiology has not been fully elucidated, it is known that there is a strong involvement of an alpha - herpesvirus, but the influence of other factors such as parasites, genetics, chemical carcinogens, contaminants, immunosuppression and ultraviolet radiation may be important in the disease, being pointed out as one of the main causes of a reduction in the green turtle population. Thus, the objective of this article was to describe the morphology of cutaneous fibropapillomas found in specimens of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), using light and scanning electron microscopy in order to contribute to the mechanism of tumor formation. Microscopically, it presented hyperplastic stromal proliferation and epidermal proliferation with hyperkeratosis. The bulky mass was coated with keratin, with some keratinocyte invaginations, that allowed the keratin to infiltrate from the epidermis into the dermis, forming large keratinized circular spirals. Another fact that we observed was the influence of the inflammation of the tumors caused by ectoparasites.

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