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Journal article
Delineating spatial use combined with threat assessment to aid critical recovery of northeast Australia’s endangered hawksbill turtle, one of western Pacific's last strongholds
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol.10, pp.1-19
2023
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Abstract
The current rate of decline in the globally significant western Pacific hawksbill turtle nesting population on Milman Island on the northern Great Barrier Reef (neQLD) suggests that it could be functionally extinct within a decade. Yet a poor understanding of the relative importance and spatial distribution of threats to this population has been a major impediment to recovery actions. For the first time, we assess all threats to the neQLD stock using a combination of a post-hatchling dispersal model, new satellite tracking of post-nesting migrations and a comprehensive review of existing data. We overlay migration routes and foraging areas from the satellite tracking data with spatially referenced threat layers to analyse threat exposure. We found all tracked hawksbills remained in Australian waters, with migration to foraging areas in Queensland including western Cape York to western Torres Strait (n = 8), and eastern Cape York to eastern Torres Strait (n = 5). These results underscore the critical importance of foraging habitats in Queensland (particularly western Queensland) to the Millman Island nesting population. In contrast, the Lagrangian post-hatchling dispersal model predicted a concentration of turtles in the Torres Strait to Gulf of Papua region, with most final positions in Australian waters (63%), followed by Papua New Guinea (31%), Solomon Islands (3%), Indonesia (2%), Vanuatu (0.49%), New Caledonia (1%). Even though 37% of post-hatchling turtles were predicted to recruit to foraging areas outside of Australian waters, none of the 25 turtles tracked have left the Australian shelf (13 in this study and 12 previously). Survival to breeding is therefore likely to be low outside of Australian waters. No single pervasive threat was identified in the threat risk assessment, however, fisheries (bycatch/ghost gear) interactions, direct harvesting and climate change were considered to have the potential to impede recovery or result in further decline in the population. Fisheries and harvesting should be the priorities for management actions. The lack of spatial protection in foraging habitats in western Queensland was identified as a major policy gap requiring immediate attention if this population’s trajectory is to be reversed and remain one of western Pacific’s strongholds.
Details
- Title
- Delineating spatial use combined with threat assessment to aid critical recovery of northeast Australia’s endangered hawksbill turtle, one of western Pacific's last strongholds
- Authors
- Christine Madden Hof (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringCaitlin Smith (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringSimon Miller (Author) - Australian Marine Conservation SocietyKita Ashman (Author) - World Wide Fund for Nature (Australia)Kathy Townsend (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringJustin Meager (Author)
- Publication details
- Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol.10, pp.1-19
- Publisher
- Frontiers Research Foundation
- Date published
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.3389/fmars.2023.1200986
- ISSN
- 2296-7745
- Copyright note
- © 2023 Madden Hof, Smith, Miller, Ashman, Townsend and Meager. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99747998902621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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