Survival probability of immature green turtles in two foraging grounds at Culebra, Puerto Rico

Patrício, Ana R.; Vélez‐Zuazo, Ximena; Díez, Carlos Estepa; Dam, Robert Van; Sabat, Alberto M.

doi:10.3354/meps09337

Cited by 31 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 50 publications

(50 reference statements)

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“…Green turtles as small as 23 cm SCL have been observed in these coastal bays, where they spend several years and then depart before the onset of sexual maturity (Patrício et al 2011). Turtles with fibropapillomas (FP) were first observed at Puerto Manglar, with an initial prevalence of ~40% from 2000 to 2006, followed by a decrease in occurrence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) model (Lebreton et al 1992) was fitted for each aggregation, using the program MARK v6.1 (White & Burnham 1999) to obtain maximum-likelihood estimates of the annual recapture probabilities for green turtles at Tortuga Bay and Puerto Manglar (see Patrício et al 2011 for a detailed explanation of the selection of CJS models and model assumptions). Recapture probabilities from the CJS models were then applied to a HorvitzThompson type (HT) estimator to estimate annual abundance (Seber 1982):…”

Section: Aggregation Abundances and Abundance Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Puerto Rico, the most-studied foraging grounds for green turtles are located at Puerto Manglar and Tortuga Bay, part of the Culebra Archipelago , Patrício et al 2011. Green turtles as small as 23 cm SCL have been observed in these coastal bays, where they spend several years and then depart before the onset of sexual maturity (Patrício et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tortuga Bay and Puerto Manglar foraging grounds are used by green turtles from multiple rookeries, as revealed by mitochondrial DNA analysis ), pertaining to all 5 Atlantic and Caribbean Regional Management Units (Wallace et al 2010). Movement of individuals between the 2 sites has very rarely been observed, suggesting that when turtles recruit to a specific bay they remain faithful to that area (Patrício et al 2011). Collazo et al (1992) did a first assessment of the abundance and the somatic growth of green turtles at Culebra.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…25 cm straight carapace length (SCL), juveniles recruit to shallow neritic areas and shift to benthic feeding (Bolten 2003, Heppell et al 2003. Neritic zones are used as developmental habitats, and turtles may spend several years foraging in the same area until reaching a size or maturity stage that triggers them to migrate (Bjorndal et al 2005, Patrício et al 2011. Sexually mature individuals move periodically from foraging grounds to nesting beaches and mating areas, often separated by hundreds to thousands of kilometers (Bowen & Karl 2007, Arthur et al 2008.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial and temporal variability of immature green turtle abundance and somatic growth in Puerto Rico

Patrício¹,

Díez²,

Dam³

2014

Endang. Species. Res.

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Understanding conservation needs relies on robust estimates of key population parameters, such as survival, abundance and somatic growth. We investigated the somatic growth and abundance dynamics of 2 aggregations of immature green turtles, at Tortuga Bay and Puerto Manglar (Culebra, Puerto Rico), throughout 15 yr of capture-mark-recaptures. We used nonlinear models to investigate the effects of carapace length, sampling year, growth interval and the presence of fibropapillomas on growth rates, and used the size-specific growth rate function to estimate how long turtles remain at each bay. Abundances were estimated and compared with timespecific growth rate functions, to infer density-dependency effects on somatic growth rates, and trends in abundance were evaluated by fitting generalized linear models. We found foraging site specific growth rates and report the highest mean somatic growth rate for green turtles in the wild (6.1 ± 1.7 cm yr −1 , at Puerto Manglar). The size-specific growth rate function was monotonic at both sites, with growth rates declining continuously with increasing carapace length. We inferred minimum ages at maturity of 14 and 22 yr, for Puerto Manglar and Tortuga Bay turtles, respectively. Throughout the 15 yr of this study there was a positive trend in aggregation size at Puerto Manglar (mean annual increase of 10.9%), which was not observed at Tortuga Bay. Our study highlights the influence of geography and habitat quality on somatic growth rates, and delivers robust demographic estimates valuable for local and regional assessments of the conservation status of the green turtle.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Aggregation Abundances and Abundance Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Spatial and temporal variability of immature green turtle abundance and somatic growth in Puerto Rico

Patrício¹,

Díez²,

Dam³

2014

Endang. Species. Res.

Self Cite

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Annual survival probabilities of juvenile loggerhead sea turtles indicate high anthropogenic impact on Mediterranean populations

Casale

Freggi

Furii

et al. 2014

Aquatic Conservation

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One of the major gaps in the knowledge of sea turtle population dynamics is survival probability, in particular of juveniles, which represent the bulk of the population and whose survival has the greatest effect on population growth. One of the major global threats to sea turtles is incidental bycatch, although not all animals die in the process. This is particularly acute for the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta). Here fisheries-dependent monitoring is used to seek insights into patterns of survival at multiple Mediterranean foraging areas: north and south Adriatic, north Ionian, and the Tunisian shelf. Annual survival probability was estimated using the catch curve method. Size data of 2191 loggerhead turtles ranging from 19 to 92cm curved carapace length were converted to age according to eight age-size curves available from the Mediterranean Sea. The mean annual survival probabilities for the four areas were heterogeneous and ranged between 0.710 and 0.862. Results suggest that the survival probabilities for Mediterranean loggerheads, especially in some areas, are lower than would be expected from a healthy population. This is of particular concern for the Greek rookeries, which appear most affected by anthropogenic mortality occurring in the study areas. This supports the implementation in those areas of measures mitigating the main threats, notably bycatch

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Connecting paths between juvenile and adult habitats in the Atlantic green turtle using genetics and satellite tracking

Chambault

Thoisy

Huguin

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Although it is commonly assumed that female sea turtles always return to the beach they hatched, the pathways they use during the years preceding their first reproduction and their natal origins are most often unknown, as it is the case for juvenile green turtles found in Martinique waters in the Caribbean. Given the oceanic circulation of the Guiana current flowing toward Martinique and the presence of important nesting sites for this species in Suriname and French Guiana, we may assume that a large proportion of the juvenile green turtles found in Martinique are originating from the Suriname–French Guiana beaches. To confirm this hypothesis, we performed mixed stock analysis (MSA) on 40 green turtles sampled in Martinique Island and satellite tracked 31 juvenile green turtles tagged in Martinique to (a) assess their natal origin and (b) identify their destination. Our results from MSA confirm that these juveniles are descendant from females laying on several Caribbean and Atlantic beaches, mostly from Suriname and French Guiana, but also from more southern Brazilian beaches. These results were confirmed by the tracking data as the 10 turtles leaving Martinique headed across the Caribbean–Atlantic region in six different directions and 50% of these turtles reached the Brazilian foraging grounds used by the adult green turtles coming from French Guiana. One turtle left the French Guianan coast to perform the first transatlantic migration ever recorded in juvenile green turtles, swimming toward Guinea‐Bissau, which is the most important nesting site for green turtles along the African coast. The extensive movements of the migrant turtles evidenced the crossing of international waters and more than 25 exclusive economic zones, reinforcing the need for an international cooperative network to ensure the conservation of future breeders in this endangered species.

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Survival probability of immature green turtles in two foraging grounds at Culebra, Puerto Rico

Cited by 31 publications

References 50 publications

Spatial and temporal variability of immature green turtle abundance and somatic growth in Puerto Rico

Spatial and temporal variability of immature green turtle abundance and somatic growth in Puerto Rico

Annual survival probabilities of juvenile loggerhead sea turtles indicate high anthropogenic impact on Mediterranean populations

Connecting paths between juvenile and adult habitats in the Atlantic green turtle using genetics and satellite tracking

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