First report on two loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nests in the Aeolian Archipelago (Southern Italy)

Blasi, Monica Francesca; Hochscheid, Sandra; Bardelli, Roberta; Bruno, Chiara; Melodia, Carolina; Salzeri, Perla; Rosa, Paolo; Madonia, Paolo

doi:10.36253/a_h-10188

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…While increasing awareness and reporting by citizens may partially explain the increasing records of nesting events, the long absence of nesting events followed by almost yearly events between 2018 and 2023 clearly indicates an increasing trend in nesting activity around this archipelago. A trend similar to that noted in the Western Mediterranean, where, during the last decade, C. caretta has been expanding its nesting range and increasing nesting events in the region [6,7,86], possibly in response to global warming [7].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Conservation Genetics of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Caretta caretta, from the Central Mediterranean: An Insight into the Species’ Reproductive Behaviour in Maltese Waters

Vella,

Vella

2023

Animals

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Loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758), nestlings were investigated through specimens found dead either after hatching or unhatched (n = 120) from eight nests around the Maltese islands (Central Mediterranean). Molecular genetics was used to conduct maternity and paternity tests of the collected specimens utilizing expanded mitochondrial DNA sequences from the control region (858 bp) and 25 microsatellite loci (12 dinucleotide loci and 13 tetranucleotide loci). Mitochondrial data produced two haplotypes, CC-A2.1 and CC-A3.1, with the most common haplotype being present in seven nests. Microsatellite data revealed the identity of six different females that were involved in the deposition of the eggs in the eight turtle nests analysed. This confirms that two females laid multiple nests. Additionally, microsatellite data allowed for the determination of multiple paternity, with one clutch being sired by two fathers. These results are useful for monitoring the genetic diversity of loggerhead sea turtle nestlings and of the turtle mothers and fathers contributing to future turtle offspring, which rely on Maltese sandy beaches for their successful start to life. Effective conservation management benefits from merging scientific knowledge with effective measures at potential nesting sites to avoid losses of nestlings caused by human negligence.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Conservation Genetics of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Caretta caretta, from the Central Mediterranean: An Insight into the Species’ Reproductive Behaviour in Maltese Waters

Vella,

Vella

2023

Animals

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“…Many factors, particularly anthropic, threaten the conservation of this species during the juvenile and adult ages at sea and the spawning period and embryonic development in coastal nesting areas. The sea and beach pollution, overbuilding, and degradation of the coastal areas, tourism, climate change, presence of predators, rains, floods, and microbial infections are compromising factors for both hatching and survival rates of the newborn [ 1 – 10 ]). To date, there is an increasing interest in microbial community studies to provide information on the ecology of the host and improve conservation efforts, rescue, and rehabilitation practices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlation Between Microbial Community and Hatching Failure in Loggerhead Sea Turtle Caretta caretta

et al. 2023

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Microbial communities provide essential information about host ecology and could be helpful as a tool to improve species conservation efforts. However, microbes can also infect and compromise the host development process and viability. Caretta caretta is the most widespread marine turtle species in the Mediterranean basin and is the only species of sea turtle nesting along the Italian coasts. Little is known about the microbiota composition of the nest of sea turtles and its correlation with hatching failures. In this study, the microbial composition of two nests of C. caretta featuring different rates of hatching success from a nesting beach in Lampedusa (Italy) was analyzed and compared. The bacterial community was determined using culture-dependent methods and next-generation sequencing based on 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding analysis. Our results showed five dominant bacterial phyla (Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, and Firmicutes) and indicated different bacterial families (Pseudomonadaceae and Brucellaceae) as likely causes of hatching failures. Besides, our findings demonstrated the nests’ active role in modulating the sand’s bacterial communities. This study suggests microbiological analysis could be a valuable tool in monitoring nests to take preventive actions and reduce hatching failures.

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“…Unfortunately, such information is not very useful as it is often unreliable and lacking essential information. Conversely, scientific papers dealing with this topic appear to date rather limited (e.g., Blasi et al, 2022;Denaro et al, 2022;Vecchioni et al, 2022a;Vecchioni et al, 2022b). Recently, Hochscheid et al (2022) have shown that from 2010 to 2023 in the western sector of the Mediterranean Caretta caretta has shown a progressive expansion of the nesting area, as evidenced by the occurrence of a high number of nests in areas where the females had never been known to lay eggs before.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of substrate temperature on the reproductive success of Caretta caretta on a volcanic beach in the Mediterranean Sea

Di Gangi,

D’Emanuele,

Vecchioni

et al. 2024

Journal of Water and Land Development

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A five-year of monitoring (2018–2022) of the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta nests in “Pozzolana di Ponente” beach on Linosa Island (Pelagie Archipelago, Italy) is here reported. To explore how temperatures affect the hatching success and the possible occurrence of any malformation in hatchlings, incubation temperature values were recorded using data loggers positioned at depths of 5 and 35 cm (for each nest) from the surface, approximately 0.5 m from the nest chamber. The obtained results highlighted important issues related to the success of hatching and the incidence of body anomalies. The temperatures recorded at different depths near the nests (5 and 35 cm) in some periods of incubation of the eggs were above optimal development temperature (i.e., ~33°C), causing high mortality rates, especially during the first two years of the survey (2018–2019). In the next three years (2020–2022), the implementation of shading cover cloths of the nests increased the survival rate and decreased the incidence of malformed individuals. Furthermore, atmospheric temperature data were extrapolated from the “Copernicus Climate Change” web service and included in our analyses to assess any changes over the timeframe analysed. Over five years (2018–2022), the average atmospheric temperature increased slightly by 1.7°C. In light of global warming, the implementation of effective and low-cost mitigation activities, such as the use of shade cloth covers to protect the nests from overheating, should be considered a suitable conservation action.

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First report on two loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nests in the Aeolian Archipelago (Southern Italy)

Cited by 4 publications

References 11 publications

Conservation Genetics of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Caretta caretta, from the Central Mediterranean: An Insight into the Species’ Reproductive Behaviour in Maltese Waters

Conservation Genetics of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Caretta caretta, from the Central Mediterranean: An Insight into the Species’ Reproductive Behaviour in Maltese Waters

Correlation Between Microbial Community and Hatching Failure in Loggerhead Sea Turtle Caretta caretta

The effects of substrate temperature on the reproductive success of Caretta caretta on a volcanic beach in the Mediterranean Sea

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