scholarly journals Nest microbiota and pathogen abundance impact hatching success in sea turtle conservation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daphne Z Hoh ◽  
Yu-Fei Lin ◽  
Wei-An Liu ◽  
Siti Nordahliawate Mohamed Sidique ◽  
Isheng Jason Tsai

AbstractHatchery practices are pivotal to conservation success. In sea turtle hatchery, reusing the same sand has been a norm but remains unclear whether such approach increases the risk of Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC) infection causing huge mortality in sea turtle eggs worldwide. We employed 16S and ITS amplicon sequencing in 123 sand samples and isolated fungal strains from diseased eggs across seven hatcheries and neighboring beaches in Malaysia. FSSC was isolated from all sampled hatcheries where F. solani/falciforme was the predominant species. A distinct microbial composition and higher abundance of FSSC (mean = 5.2 %) was found in all but one hatchery when compared to nesting beaches (mean = 1.3 %). Specifically, an ascomycetous fungus Pseudallescheria boydii consistently appeared in higher abundance (mean = 11.4 %) in FSSC-infected nests and was significantly associated with lower hatching success. The hatchery that maintained the most stringent practice by changing sand every nesting season had a microbiota resembling nesting beaches as well as lowest FSSC and P. boydii abundance. The results of current study imply the need to avoid reusing sand in sea turtle hatchery.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo F Tapilatu ◽  
Hengki Wona ◽  
Rima Siburian ◽  
SEFRIANTO T. SALEDA

Abstract. Tapilatu RF, Wona H, Siburian RHS, Saleda ST. 2020. Heavy metals contaminants in the eggs and temperatures of nesting beaches of sea turtles in Kaimana, West Papua, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 21: 4582-4590. Etna Bay and Venu Island in Kaimana, West Papua, Indonesia are two of many areas that sea turtles use during the nesting season. Here, we report data on heavy metals contaminants from a sample of eggs of green (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) turtles collected from a subset of two nests during the 2016 nesting season at Venu Island, Kaimana, West Papua, Indonesia. Three heavy metals contaminants (i.e. mercury, cadmium, arsenic) found in eggs exceeded the established safety limits for human consumption. Other contaminants such as lead, zinc, manganese, iron, and copper were found below the established safety standards. There is an implication of the containment of heavy metals in sea turtle eggs to human health in Kaimana when it is consumed. It is highly recommended that the harvesting of turtle eggs and adults of all of sea turtles at Kaimana be totally prohibited. In addition, overall, beach temperatures in Lakahia fluctuated at a larger range between 26.5o and 33.8oC than at Venu island that fluctuated between 25.9o and 30.2oC. Mean daily temperatures of in-situ nests during the middle third of the incubation period were above the pivotal temperature of 29.0oC for temperature-dependent sex determination suggesting a female bias may already exist. The chemical contamination found in the eggs of C. mydas and E. imbricata at Venu Island is thought to assist sea turtle conservation initiatives in the area. The conservation program at the prime nesting habitat for green and hawksbill turtles on the small islands west of Kaimana such as Venu Island should be intensified to reverse the decline and increase population size of nesting sea turtle species. It is recommended that education and outreach be implemented in surrounding communities in Kaimana to raise awareness about marine turtle conservation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 245-256
Author(s):  
Cemil Aymak ◽  
Aşkın Hasan Uçar ◽  
Yusuf Katılmış ◽  
Eyup Başkale ◽  
Serap Ergene

In this study invertebrate infestation in green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nests were recorded for the first time for Kazanlı beach, Mersin, Turkey. For this aim, in 2006 nesting season, 294 natural intact green turtle nests were sampled to examine their contents and invertebrate infestation was found in 76 (25.85% of the total sampling green turtle nests). These infested nests were examined in terms of the invertebrate faunal composition. The specimens found in the green sea turtle nests were identified to order, family or genus levels and they were represented in 5 orders. These invertebrate groups are Elater sp. larvae (Elateridae; Coleoptera), Pimelia sp. larvae (Tenebrionidae; Coleoptera), Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta), Cyrptostigmata (Acari), Oniscidae (Isopoda), Formicidae (Hymenoptera). Elater sp. was the most common invertebrate group in the green turtle nests. According to student t test, we found statistically significant differences between 7 independent variables and invertebrate species presence. Furthermore, logistic regression analysis explained that there is a negative relationship between hatching success rate and invertebrate species presence.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale Squires ◽  
Victor Restrepo ◽  
Serge Garcia ◽  
Peter Dutton

This paper considers fisheries bycatch reduction within the least-cost biodiversity impact mitigation hierarchy. It introduces conservatory offsets that are implemented earlier in the biodiversity impact mitigation hierarchy than conventional compensatory offsets used as instruments of last resort. The paper illustrates implementation in an on-going sea turtle conservation programme by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Lynn M. Massey ◽  
Prestyn McCord Camerden ◽  
Alexander R. Gaos ◽  
Michael J. Liles ◽  
Jeffrey A. Seminoff ◽  
...  

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