Impacts of a geotextile container dune core on marine turtle nesting in Juno Beach, Florida, United States

Hirsch, Sarah E.; Kedzuf, Stephanie; Perrault, Justin R.

doi:10.1111/rec.12878

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Nesting success has significantly declined over the course of the study, likely due to increased coastal housing density and construction near the beach 49 , 98 . Increases in coastal development result in more obstructions on the beach deterring nesters 71 , 99 , more lighting issues that discourage nesters 45 , 100 , and more nourishment or beach armoring that can prevent nesters from approaching the beach 43 , 65 , 101 . Two of the beaches with the lowest nesting success and nesting density (Lido Key, and Longboat Key) are also the beaches that have been (re)nourished the most in the county.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forty years of monitoring increasing sea turtle relative abundance in the Gulf of Mexico

Lasala,

Macksey,

Mazzarella

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Longitudinal data sets for population abundance are essential for studies of imperiled organisms with long life spans or migratory movements, such as marine turtles. Population status trends are crucial for conservation managers to assess recovery effectiveness. A direct assessment of population growth is the enumeration of nesting numbers and quantifying nesting attempts (successful nests/unsuccessful attempts) and emergence success (number of hatchlings leaving the nest) because of the substantial annual variations due to nest placement, predation, and storm activity. We documented over 133,000 sea turtle crawls for 50.9 km of Florida Gulf of Mexico coastline from 1982 to 2021 for a large loggerhead turtle nesting aggregation and a recovering remnant population of green sea turtles. Over time both species have emerged to nest significantly earlier in the year and green sea turtle nesting seasons have extended. Nest counts and hatchling production for both species have significantly increased, but the rate of emergence success of hatchlings leaving nests has not changed for loggerheads and has declined for green sea turtles. Sea level rise and coastal developments undoubtedly influence coastal habitats in the long-term, impacting nest site selection and potential recruitment from the loss of emerged hatchlings. However, the present indications for steady Gulf of Mexico recovery of loggerhead and green sea turtles counter findings of the Florida Atlantic coasts. This study indicates that effective conservation practices can be detected within time scales of 1–2 turtle generations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forty years of monitoring increasing sea turtle relative abundance in the Gulf of Mexico

Lasala,

Macksey,

Mazzarella

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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show abstract

“…Nesting success has signi cantly declined over the course of the study -likely due to increased coastal housing density and construction near the beach [49,86] . Increases in coastal development result in more obstructions on the beach deterring nesters [87,88] , more lighting issues that discourage nesters [89,90] , and more nourishment or beach armoring that can prevent nesters from approaching the beach [43,65,91] . Two of the beaches with the lowest nesting success and nesting density beaches (Lido Key, and Longboat Key) are also the beaches that have been (re)nourished the most in the county.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forty Years of Monitoring Increasing Sea Turtle Abundance in the Gulf of Mexico

Lasala,

Macksey,

Mazzarella

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Longitudinal data sets for population abundance are essential for studies of imperiled organisms with long life spans or migratory movements, such as marine turtles. Population status trends are crucial for conservation managers to assess recovery effectiveness. A direct assessment of population growth is the enumeration of nesting numbers and quantifying nest attempts (successful nests / unsuccessful attempts) and emergence success (number of hatchlings leaving the nest) because of the substantial annual variations due to nest placement, predation, and storm activity. We documented over 133,000 sea turtle crawls for 50.9 km (31.5 miles) of Florida Gulf of Mexico coastline from 1982–2021 for a large loggerhead turtle nesting aggregation and a recovering remnant population of green sea turtles. Nest counts and hatchling production for both species have significantly increased, but emergence success has not. Sea level rise and coastal developments undoubtedly influence habitats in the long-term, impacting nest site selection and potential recruitment from the loss of emerged hatchlings. However, the present indications for steady Gulf of Mexico recovery of loggerhead and green sea turtles and range expansions of Kemp’s ridley and leatherback turtles parallel findings of the Florida Atlantic coasts. This study indicates that effective conservation practices can be detected within time scales of 1–2 turtle generations.

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“…However, because the sites were in proximity, turtles that emerge in one treatment may have ultimately ended up crawling into the other treatment area. A limitation of field-based studies is the inability to control for numerous factors and before-after-control-impact (BACI) designs (e.g., Hirsch et al, 2019) can help limit confounding factors by evaluating both control and study sites before and after the habitat alterations. A BACI design was not possible in the current study as a comprehensive sea turtle nesting dataset was not available prior to the installation of the hard-armoring structures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, 94% of Florida's sea turtle nesting beaches are exposed to cumulative coastal modifications, and the number of permitted alterations continues to grow . Previous studies have evaluated the impacts of various facets of coastal development on sea turtles, including beach nourishment, artificial lighting, and armoring structures (Grain et al, 1995;Salmon et al, 1995;Butler, 1998;Brock et al, 2009;Lopez et al, 2015;Hirsch et al, 2019). In a survey of sea turtle experts across four continents, it was found that beach armoring was perceived as the largest threat to sea turtle nesting beaches in terms of coastal development, which ranked higher than artificial lighting, special events, beach cleaning, and beach sand placement activities .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of three nesting sea turtle species to hard-armoring structures

Hirsch¹,

Toonder

Reilly³

et al. 2022

Front. Mar. Sci.

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In the face of modern challenges, analyzing sea turtle nesting trends is critical to better understand impacts to these vulnerable species. The introduction of hard-armoring structures (e.g., seawalls, rock revetments) on sea turtle nesting beaches poses a threat to nesting leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtles due to habitat loss and turtle interactions with the physical structure. Despite much of Florida’s coastline being protected by some form of hard-armoring technology, research on the impacts of these structures to sea turtles is limited to loggerheads. Our objectives were to (1) examine nest density, nesting success, washout rates, and hatching and emergence success at hard-armoring sites in comparison to a control area and (2) characterize impacts of obstructions encountered by sea turtles nesting in northern Palm Beach County, Florida. Our results indicate that the hard-armoring site showed significantly lower nest density for green turtles and nesting success for loggerheads and green turtles in comparison to a control area. Additionally, nesting success for loggerheads and green turtles that encountered hard-armoring structures was significantly lower in comparison to those that encountered no obstructions or other obstructions (e.g., beach furniture, walkovers, escarpments, etc.). These results suggest that hard-armoring structures negatively impact sea turtle nesting behavior, which could result in loss of energy or other physiological derangements. Green turtles showed the most significant differences between the two sites, likely a result of their typical nest site selection favoring the upper portions of the beach, crawling further distances from the high-water line than loggerheads or leatherbacks. Before additional hard-armoring structures are permitted and installed, governing agencies should first consider more natural methods of protecting shorelines (e.g., dune restoration).

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Impacts of a geotextile container dune core on marine turtle nesting in Juno Beach, Florida, United States

Cited by 5 publications

References 26 publications

Forty years of monitoring increasing sea turtle relative abundance in the Gulf of Mexico

Forty years of monitoring increasing sea turtle relative abundance in the Gulf of Mexico

Forty Years of Monitoring Increasing Sea Turtle Abundance in the Gulf of Mexico

Responses of three nesting sea turtle species to hard-armoring structures

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