6Lisbon Oceanarium, 1999-005 Lisbon, Portugal A global phylogeny for chelonid fibropapilloma-associated herpesvirus (CFPHV), the most likely aetiological agent of fibropapillomatosis (FP) in sea turtles, was inferred, using dated sequences, through Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis and used to estimate the virus evolutionary rate independent of the evolution of the host, and to resolve the phylogenetic positions of new haplotypes from Puerto Rico and the Gulf of Guinea. Four phylogeographical groups were identified: eastern Pacific, western Atlantic/eastern Caribbean, mid-west Pacific and Atlantic. The latter comprises the Gulf of Guinea and Puerto Rico, suggesting recent virus gene flow between these two regions. One virus haplotype from Florida remained elusive, representing either an independent lineage sharing a common ancestor with all other identified virus variants or an Atlantic representative of the lineage giving rise to the eastern Pacific group. The virus evolutionary rate ranged from 1.62¾10 "4 to 2.22¾10 "4 substitutions per site per year, which is much faster than what is expected for a herpesvirus. The mean time for the most recent common ancestor of the modern virus variants was estimated at 192.90-429.71 years ago, which, although more recent than previous estimates, still supports an interpretation that the global FP pandemic is not the result of a recent acquisition of a virulence mutation(s). The phylogeographical pattern obtained seems partially to reflect sea turtle movements, whereas altered environments appear to be implicated in current FP outbreaks and in the modern evolutionary history of CFPHV. INTRODUCTIONChelonid fibropapilloma-associated herpesvirus (CFPHV) is the most likely aetiological agent of fibropapillomatosis (FP) (Arthur et al., 2008a;Greenblatt et al., 2005;Lackovich et al., 1999;Quackenbush et al., 1998), a neoplastic disease of sea turtles, characterized by recent outbreaks (Diez et al., 2010;Foley et al., 2005;Work & Balazs, 1999). The tumours can be both external and internal and, although benign, depending on location and size, they may obstruct crucial functions such as swimming, feeding and sight, or may impede organ function (Herbst, 1994;Herbst & Klein, 1995). Severe FP also leads to bacteraemia (Work et al., 2003). The most susceptible life stages appear to be neritic juveniles and subadults, whereas in adults the disease is rare (Ene et al., 2005;Herbst & Klein, 1995;Work et al., 2004). A high prevalence of FP is common in anthropogenically altered environments (Aguirre & Lutz, 2004;Herbst, 1994;Van Houtan et al., 2010), suggesting that factors in these environments promote disease outbreaks, for example, through the enhancement of virus transmissibility and/or the enhancement of disease expression via substances thatThe GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the CFPHV sequences determined in this study are JN580279-JN580296 and JN625251-JN625262.Further details about samples are available with the online version of this paper. Phylogenies of herpesv...

Climate change is a threat to marine turtles that is expected to affect all of their life stages. To guide future research, we conducted a review of the most recent literature on this topic, highlighting knowledge gains and research gaps since a similar previous review in 2009. Most research has been focussed on the terrestrial life history phase, where expected impacts will range from habitat loss and decreased reproductive success to feminization of populations, but changes in reproductive periodicity, shifts in latitudinal ranges, and changes in foraging success are all expected in the marine life history phase. Models have been proposed to improve estimates of primary sex ratios, while technological advances promise a better understanding of how climate can influence different life stages and habitats. We suggest a number of research priorities for an improved understanding of how climate change may impact marine turtles, including: improved estimates of primary sex ratios, assessments of the implications of female-biased sex ratios and reduced male production, assessments of the variability in upper thermal limits of clutches, models of beach sediment movement under sea level rise, and assessments of impacts on foraging grounds. Lastly, we suggest that it is not yet possible to recommend manipulating aspects of turtle nesting ecology, as the evidence base with which to understand the results of such interventions is not robust enough, but that strategies for mitigation of stressors should be helpful, providing they consider the synergistic effects of climate change and other anthropogenic-induced threats to marine turtles, and focus on increasing resilience.

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Inshore bays are key foraging grounds for immature green turtles Chelonia mydas. At these confined areas, capture−mark−recapture (CMR) programs generate valuable information that can be used to estimate vital rates, essential for the effective conservation of this endangered species. We compiled the CMR history profiles of 273 individuals from 13 yr of in-water surveys and employed the Cormack-Jolly-Seber model to estimate the survival probabilities of green turtles in 2 neritic bays at Culebra municipality, Puerto Rico. The CMR profiles were grouped into 2 size classes: juvenile and subadult. No adults were captured during the study. We found no significant differences in survival probability between the green turtles occupying each bay. We also assessed the survival probability of fibropapillomatosis (FP)-afflicted turtles versus FP-free turtles and found no significant differences among these groups. However, there was a significant difference in survival between the 2 size classes. Juveniles showed a higher survival probability (0.8322, 95% CI = 0.7875 to 0.8690) than subadults (0.5290, 95% CI = 0.3851 to 0.6682). The low survival of subadults is potentially biased by the permanent emigration of some of these individuals. Previous studies have shown that larger immatures leave shallow protected bays and occupy deeper open waters, sometimes associated with adults. Juveniles seem to be resident, and their survival rate can serve as a reference value for viability analysis. This is the first study on the survival of green turtles in the West Indies.KEY WORDS: Survival probability · Chelonia mydas · Cormack-Jolly-Seber · Capture−mark− recapture study · Fibropapillomatosis Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 440: [217][218][219][220][221][222][223][224][225][226][227] 2011 survival probability have been widely employed in animal population studies (Lebreton et al. 1992, Pradel et al. 1997, Bjorndal et al. 2003b, Campbell & Lagueux 2005, Monticelli et al. 2010) and have become an important means for application in longterm population management (Fujiwara & Caswell 2002).The survival probability of sea turtles has been investigated by the analysis of capture−mark− recapture (CMR) data, mostly of live captures (Chaloupka & Limpus 2002, Chaloupka & Limpus 2005, Eguchi et al. 2010. Recent studies have shown the need for high survival rates in the large juvenile, subadult, and adult stages for a positive or stable long-term population growth (Heppell 1998, Crouse 1999, Heppell et al. 2003. One holdback of models that only include data from live captures, such as the Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS; Lebreton et al. 1992), is the inability to distinguish between permanent emigration and death (Heppell 1998, White & Burnham 1999. Extensions to the CJS model, such as the Burnham (1993) and the Barker (1997) models, can incorporate data from tag recoveries (i.e. from animals found dead) or from both tag return and resight occasions, in the latter case impro...