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Short-term resilience to climate-induced temperature increases for equatorial sea turtle populations5.30 MB
Published VersionCC BY-NC V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Short-term resilience to climate-induced temperature increases for equatorial sea turtle populations
Global Change Biology, Vol.29(23), pp.6546-6557
2023
Abstract
Projection models are being increasingly used to manage threatened taxa by estimating their responses to climate change. Sea turtles are particularly susceptible to climate change as they have temperature-dependent sex determination and increased sand temperatures on nesting beaches could result in the ‘feminisation’ of hatchling sex ratios for some populations. This study modelled likely long-term trends in sand temperatures and hatchling sex ratios at an equatorial nesting site for endangered green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and critically endangered hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata). A total of 1078 days of sand temperature data were collected from 28 logger deployments at nest depth between 2018 and 2022 in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Long-term trends in sand temperature were generated from a model using air temperature as an environmental proxy. The influence of rainfall and seasonal variation on sand temperature was also investigated. Between 1960 and 2019, we estimated that sand temperature increased by ~0.6°C and the average hatchling sex ratio was relatively balanced (46.2% female, SD = 10.7). No trends were observed in historical rainfall anomalies and projections indicated no further changes to rainfall until 2100. Therefore, the sex ratio models were unlikely to be influenced by changing rainfall patterns. A relatively balanced sex ratio such as this is starkly different to the extremely female-skewed hatchling sex ratio (>99% female) reported for another Coral Sea nesting site, Raine Island (~850 km West). This PNG nesting site is likely rare in the global context, as it is less threatened by climate-induced feminisation. Although there is no current need for ‘cooling’ interventions, the mean projected sex ratios for 2020–2100 were estimated 76%–87% female, so future interventions may be required to increase male production. Our use of long-term sand temperature and rainfall trends has advanced our understanding of climate change impacts on sea turtles.
Details
- Title
- Short-term resilience to climate-induced temperature increases for equatorial sea turtle populations
- Authors
- Melissa N Staines (Corresponding Author) - The University of QueenslandHayley Versace (Author) - Conflict Islands Conservation Initiative (Papua New Guinea)Jacques-Olivier Laloë (Author) - Deakin UniversityCaitlin E Smith (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringChristine A Madden Hof (Author) - World Wide Fund for Nature (Australia)David T Booth (Author) - The University of QueenslandIan R Tibbetts (Author) - The University of QueenslandGraeme C Hays (Author) - Deakin University
- Publication details
- Global Change Biology, Vol.29(23), pp.6546-6557
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
- Date published
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.1111/gcb.16952
- ISSN
- 1365-2486; 1354-1013
- Copyright note
- This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.© 2023 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Data Availability
- Data used in this study is available via The University of Queensland's (UQ eSpace) data repository https://doi.org/10.48610/b7814cd.
- Grant note
- World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia (WWF-Aus) Conflict Island Conservation Initiative University of Queensland Deakin University
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99971195502621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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