Green Turtles Nesting at Their Northern Range Limit in the United States Represent a Distinct Subpopulation

Shamblin, Brian M.; Godfrey, Matthew H.; Pate, S. Michelle; Thompson, William P.; Sutton, Hope; Altman, Jon; Fair, Kristina; McClary, Jeffrey; Wilson, Ann; Milligan, Brooke; Stetzar, Edna J.; Nairn, Campbell J.

doi:10.2744/ccb-1332.1

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…For example, on the Atlantic coast of North America, green turtles have typically been considered a tropical/subtropical species with rare nesting occurring in Georgia and South Carolina. However in 2011, a green turtle nested as far north as Delaware (Shamblin et al, 2018). Although that nest successfully hatched, a late nest deposited on a temperate beach risks exposure to early winter temperature extremes.…”

Section: S E a Turtle Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Tropicalization of temperate ecosystems in North America: The northward range expansion of tropical organisms in response to warming winter temperatures

Osland

Stevens

Lamont

et al. 2021

Global Change Biology

148

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Tropicalization is a term used to describe the transformation of temperate ecosystems by poleward-moving tropical organisms in response to warming temperatures. In North America, decreases in the frequency and intensity of extreme winter cold events are expected to allow the poleward range expansion of many cold-sensitive tropical organisms, sometimes at the expense of temperate organisms. Although ecologists have long noted the critical ecological role of winter cold temperature extremes in tropicaltemperate transition zones, the ecological effects of extreme cold events have been understudied, and the influence of warming winter temperatures has too often been left out of climate change vulnerability assessments. Here, we examine the influence of extreme cold events on the northward range limits of a diverse group of tropical organisms, including terrestrial plants, coastal wetland plants, coastal fishes, sea turtles, terrestrial reptiles, amphibians, manatees, and insects. For these organisms, extreme This article has been contributed to by US Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.

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Section: S E a Turtle Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Tropicalization of temperate ecosystems in North America: The northward range expansion of tropical organisms in response to warming winter temperatures

Osland

Stevens

Lamont

et al. 2021

Global Change Biology

148

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The spread of green turtle nesting northward from Tamaulipas may be a compensatory mechanism that may allow this population to adapt to changing environmental conditions (Shamblin et al, 2018). As ocean surface temperatures increase (Cheng et al, 2017), earlier nesting dates (Hawkes et al, 2007;Weishampel et al, 2010) and smaller clutch sizes (Mazaris et al, 2008) at other sea turtle nesting beaches have been observed.…”

Section: Temporal Trends and Genetic Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Green turtles in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), Caribbean, and North Atlantic Ocean are part of the North Atlantic Distinct Population Segment and are classified as threatened under the United States Endangered Species Act (Seminoff et al, 2015;NMFS and USFWS, 2016). Systematic harvest decimated the tens of millions of green turtles that once existed in the Caribbean and GoM, but after decades of conservation, green turtle nesting numbers have increased in many areas (Shamblin et al, 2015(Shamblin et al, , 2018Cuevas et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Nesting Underscores the Importance of Protected Areas in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico

et al. 2020

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Knowledge of the spatial and temporal distribution of green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) nesting is crucial for management of this species. Limited data exist on the nesting patterns of green turtles along the northwestern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) coast. From 1987 to 2019, 211 green turtle nesting activities were documented on the Texas coast, including 111 confirmed nests and 100 non-nesting emergences. Of the 111 nests, 99 were located on North Padre Island (97 at Padre Island National Seashore (PAIS), two north of PAIS) and 12 on South Padre Island (six within the Laguna Atascosa or Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuges (NWR), six outside of a NWR). Of the 100 non-nesting emergences, 75 were on North Padre Island (70 at PAIS, 5 north of PAIS), 21 on South Padre Island (nine within a NWR, 12 outside of a NWR), one on Boca Chica Beach, two on San Jose Island, and one on Mustang Island. Nearly all of the nests (92.8%) and most of the non-nesting emergences (79.0%) were on property protected by the United States Department of the Interior as PAIS or a NWR, and confirmed nest density was largest at PAIS, highlighting the importance of these federally protected lands as nesting habitat for this threatened species. Of the 111 located nests, eight were predated. Mean hatching success of the 103 non-predated nests was 77.4%, and 9,475 hatchlings were released from the predated and non-predated nests. The largest annual number of green turtle nests documented was 29 in 2017. Nesting appeared to increase since 2010, but at a much lower rate than at other GoM nesting beaches. To aid with recovery, efforts should be undertaken to monitor long-term nesting trends, protect nesting turtles and nests, and investigate potential causes for the slower recovery in Texas. Additionally, the genetic structure of the population that nests in Texas should be determined to reveal if the population warrants recognition as a unique management unit, or if it is part of a broader unit that is a shared nesting resource with Mexico which is already being considered as a unique management unit.

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“…For loggerhead turtles, we calculated the average exposure for each of the management units. For leatherback turtles, Kemp's ridley turtles, and green turtles, we calculated the overall average exposure across the species because management units have not yet been defined (leatherback turtles) or are in the process of being defined (green turtles, see [55,56]) or because the consistent nesting range is restricted to one region (Kemp's ridley turtles).…”

Section: Spatial Overlapmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure of Marine Turtle Nesting Grounds to Named Storms Along the Continental USA

et al. 2019

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Named storms can cause substantial impacts on the habitat and reproductive output of threatened species, such as marine turtles. To determine the impacts of named storms on marine turtles and inform management, it is necessary to determine the exposure of marine turtle nesting grounds to recent storm activities. To address this, remote sensing information of named storm tracks coupled with nesting ground data were used to investigate the temporal and spatial overlap between nesting grounds for four species of marine turtles in the continental United States of America. All species of marine turtles were exposed to named storms, with variation in exposure driven by the spatial distribution of each population's nesting ground, the temporal overlap between the storms and reproductive events, and nest placement on the beach. Loggerhead turtles were the most exposed species to named storms, with the northern management unit having significantly higher exposure levels than all other loggerhead management units. Kemp's ridley turtles, in contrast, were found to be the least exposed species to named storms. This study establishes a valuable current baseline against which to measure and compare future impacts that result as climate change progresses and storms become more frequent and intense. Importantly, cumulative and synergetic effects from other climatic processes and anthropogenic stressors should be considered in future analysis.

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Green Turtles Nesting at Their Northern Range Limit in the United States Represent a Distinct Subpopulation

Cited by 7 publications

References 25 publications

Tropicalization of temperate ecosystems in North America: The northward range expansion of tropical organisms in response to warming winter temperatures

Tropicalization of temperate ecosystems in North America: The northward range expansion of tropical organisms in response to warming winter temperatures

Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Nesting Underscores the Importance of Protected Areas in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico

Exposure of Marine Turtle Nesting Grounds to Named Storms Along the Continental USA

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