scholarly journals Predaceous Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) at Sea Turtle (Testudines: Cheloniidae) Nesting Beaches and Hatcheries in El Salvador

2016 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
James K. Wetterer ◽  
Michael J. Liles ◽  
José M. Sermeño ◽  
Leopoldo Serrano Cervantes ◽  
Eunice E. Echeverria ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Nesting Beaches

scholarly journals Impact of the fire ant pesticide AMDRO on loggerhead turtle nest productivity and seafinding orientation

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 339-347
Author(s):  
HE Smith ◽  
SR Hoover ◽  
M Salmon ◽  
H Seaman ◽  
CM Coppenrath ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nest Site ◽  
Hatching Success ◽  
Loggerhead Turtle ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Fire Ant ◽  
Typical Application ◽  
Ghost Crabs ◽  
Emergence Success ◽  
Nesting Beaches

Invasive fire ants prey on a variety of organisms in the southeastern USA, including the pipped eggs and hatchlings within sea turtle nests. The granular fire ant bait AMDRO® (active ingredient hydramethylnon) is currently used at some rookeries to protect nests, but no studies have been conducted to determine if the pesticide negatively impacts the eggs or the hatchlings. We examined the pesticide’s effect on loggerhead (Caretta caretta) nests at Juno Beach, Florida, USA, specifically targeting how exposure affected hatching success, hatchling emergence success, and the ability of the turtles to orient visually from the nest to the sea. Pesticide granules were placed within a 30 cm diameter circle on the sand directly above the nest during the final 5-10 days of incubation, representative of its typical application at nesting beaches. Cornmeal granules in soybean oil and untreated natural nests served as controls. AMDRO had no significant effect on hatching success or emergence success, nor did it result in any deficiencies in hatchling orientation accuracy. However, the pesticide and cornmeal control attracted other predators (Atlantic ghost crabs and avian species), in addition to fire ants, to the nest site, thus revealing the nest’s location and potentially increasing its vulnerability. Consequently, we suggest that its usage may not be beneficial at sites where predators other than ants are especially abundant.

scholarly journals Effects of Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on Hatching Turtles and Prevalence of Fire Ants on Sea Turtle Nesting Beaches in Florida

2001 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig R. Allen ◽  
Elizabeth A. Forys ◽  
Kenneth G. Rice ◽  
Daniel P. Wojcik
Keyword(s):  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Nesting Beaches

Challenging gender inequity in wildlife conservation: a women’s group leading sea turtle conservation efforts in El Salvador

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Lynn M. Massey ◽  
Prestyn McCord Camerden ◽  
Alexander R. Gaos ◽  
Michael J. Liles ◽  
Jeffrey A. Seminoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Gender Inequity ◽  
Turtle Conservation ◽  
Sea Turtle Conservation

Ocean-finding in marine turtles: the importance of low horizon elevation as an orientation cue

Behaviour ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 150 (8) ◽  
pp. 863-893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Col Limpus ◽  
Ruth L. Kamrowski
Keyword(s):  
Effective Means ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Current Theory ◽  
Light Reduction ◽  
Artificial Lighting ◽  
Marine Turtles ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Reduction Strategies ◽  
Horizon Line ◽  
Nesting Beaches

Sea finding behaviour in hatchling sea turtles is widely believed to be guided by orientation towards the brightest horizon and away from high silhouettes. We propose that the horizon profile at the lowest angle of elevation is a more important cue for ocean finding than light intensity. Examples of hatchling orientation occurring at natural nest sites, at preselected beach release sites, and within a walled wooden arena under various conditions in the field, are presented. We conclude that hatchlings orient as follows: (1) Hatchlings move towards the horizon line at the lowest angle of elevation; (2) Hatchlings move away from high silhouettes, in a direction that remains close to the horizon line at the lowest angle of elevation; (3) Should a conflict exist regarding the direction of lowest horizon elevation, hatchlings move towards the brightest lowest horizon. This refinement to current theory explains numerous instances of natural non-ocean-finding behaviour in marine turtles, which occur both by day and by night, and in the absence of artificial lighting. We propose that the disruption caused to hatchling orientation by artificial lighting close to nesting beaches occurs because bright lights mask the horizon line as a cue by making it impossible to discern, causing the hatchlings to move towards the only visible “horizon” — the artificial lights. Consequently, we recommend that managers of sea turtle rookeries where turtles have an ocean-finding problem should manipulate the beach profile to ensure the direction of the ocean matches the lowest angle of elevation, in combination with light reduction strategies — as the most effective means of preventing disrupted orientation.

Measuring the effects of morphological changes to sea turtle nesting beaches over time with LiDAR data

2015 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. 9-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina H. Yamamoto ◽  
Sharolyn J. Anderson ◽  
Paul C. Sutton
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Lidar Data ◽  
Nesting Beaches ◽  
Over Time

The effect of on-shore light pollution on sea-turtle hatchlings commencing their off-shore swim

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoe Truscott ◽  
David T. Booth ◽  
Colin J. Limpus
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Green Turtle ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Swimming Behaviour ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
The World ◽  
Near Shore ◽  
Turtle Population ◽  
Nesting Beaches ◽  
Nesting Season

Context Off-shore recruitment impairment of sea-turtle hatchlings because of light pollution is a growing concern to conservation of sea-turtle population throughout the world. Studies have focussed on sea-turtle hatchling sea-finding behaviour, and ignored the possible effect that on-shore lighting might have on hatchlings after they have entered the sea. Aims We experimentally evaluated the effect that on-shore light pollution has on the swimming behaviour of green turtle hatchlings once they have entered the sea and begun swimming off-shore. We also estimated the decrease in off-shore recruitment of hatchlings as a result of light pollution disruption of the off-shore swim. Methods Hatchling misorientation rates were quantified by releasing marked hatchlings to the sea from different land-based locations adjacent to light-polluted beach areas under a variety of environmental conditions. The beach in light-polluted regions was then searched for marked hatchlings returning to shore from the sea. Key results Misorientation rates were highest in trials conducted during moonless nights (66.7% of trials had some hatchlings return to shore) and lowest during trials conducted during moonlit nights (no trials had hatchlings return to shore). Green turtle hatchling off-shore recruitment for the entire 2014–15 nesting season at Heron Island was estimated to decrease 1.0 –2.4% as a result of on-shore lights disrupting hatchling off-shore swimming behaviour. Conclusions On moonless nights, sea-turtle hatchlings after having successfully completed their journey from nest to sea and entered the sea can be lured back to shore again by shore-based light pollution and, this will decrease their off-shore recruitment success. Implications To ensure maximum off-shore recruitment of sea-turtle hatchlings, on-shore light pollution adjacent to nesting beaches needs to be minimised so as to minimise misorientation and disorientation of hatchlings while on the beach and in near-shore waters.

scholarly journals Impact of marine heatwaves for sea turtle nest temperatures

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme C. Hays ◽  
William J. Chivers ◽  
Jacques-Olivier Laloë ◽  
Charles Sheppard ◽  
Nicole Esteban
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Marine Protected Area ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Sandy Beaches ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Model Predictions ◽  
Causality Testing ◽  
Nesting Beaches

There are major concerns about the ecological impact of extreme weather events. In the oceans, marine heatwaves (MHWs) are an increasing threat causing, for example, recent devastation to coral reefs around the world. We show that these impacts extend to adjacent terrestrial systems and could negatively affect the breeding of endangered species. We demonstrate that during an MHW that resulted in major coral bleaching and mortality in a large, remote marine protected area, anomalously warm temperatures also occurred on sea turtle nesting beaches. Granger causality testing showed that variations in sea surface temperature strongly influenced sand temperatures on beaches. We estimate that the warm conditions on both coral reefs and sandy beaches during the MHW were unprecedented in the last 70 years. Model predictions suggest that the most extreme female-biased hatchling sex ratio and the lowest hatchling survival in nests in the last 70 years both occurred during the heatwave. Our work shows that predicted increases in the frequency and intensity of MHWs will likely have growing impacts on sea turtle nesting beaches as well as other terrestrial coastal environments.

scholarly journals Assessing climate change associated sea‐level rise impacts on sea turtle nesting beaches using drones, photogrammetry and a novel GPS system

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 753-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel R. Varela ◽  
Ana R. Patrício ◽  
Karen Anderson ◽  
Annette C. Broderick ◽  
Leon DeBell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Gps System ◽  
Nesting Beaches ◽  
Sea Level Rise Impacts

Effect of introduced Casuarina trees on the vulnerability of sea turtle nesting beaches to erosion

2019 ◽  
Vol 223 ◽  
pp. 147-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deidre de Vos ◽  
Ronel Nel ◽  
David Schoeman ◽  
Linda R. Harris ◽  
Derek du Preez
Keyword(s):  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Nesting Beaches
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