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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
Nesting Phenology of Marine Turtles: Insights from a Regional Comparative Analysis on Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas)
PLoS ONE, Volume 7, No. 10, Article e46920, Year 2012
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Description
Changes in phenology, the timing of seasonal activities, are among the most frequently observed responses to environmental disturbances and in marine species are known to occur in response to climate changes that directly affects ocean temperature, biogeochemical composition and sea level. We examined nesting seasonality data from long-term studies at 8 green turtle (Chelonia mydas) rookeries that include 21 specific nesting sites in the South-West Indian Ocean (SWIO). We demonstrated that temperature drives patterns of nesting seasonality at the regional scale. We found a significant correlation between mean annual Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and dates of peak nesting with rookeries exposed to higher SST having a delayed nesting peak. This supports the hypothesis that temperature is the main factor determining peak nesting dates. We also demonstrated a spatial synchrony in nesting activity amongst multiple rookeries in the northern part of the SWIO (Aldabra, Glorieuses, Mohéli, Mayotte) but not with the eastern and southern rookeries (Europa, Tromelin), differences which could be attributed to females with sharply different adult foraging conditions. However, we did not detect a temporal trend in the nesting peak date over the study period or an inter-annual relation between nesting peak date and SST. The findings of our study provide a better understanding of the processes that drive marine species phenology. The findings will also help to predict their ability to cope with climate change and other environmental perturbations. Despite demonstrating this spatial shift in nesting phenology, no trend in the alteration of nesting dates over more than 20 years was found. © 2012 Dalleau et al.
Available Materials
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3467270/bin/pone.0046920.s001.tiff
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3467270/bin/pone.0046920.s002.tiff
Authors & Co-Authors
Dalleau, Mayeul
France, Saint-denis
Université de la Réunion
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
France, Plouzane
Ifremer Institut Francais de Recherche Pour L'exploitation de la Mer
Ciccione, Stéphane
Unknown Affiliation
Mortimer, Jeanne A.
Seychelles, Victoria
Seychelles Islands Foundation
United States, Gainesville
University of Florida
Garnier, Julie
United Kingdom, London
Zoological Society of London
Benhamou, Simon
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Bourjea, Jérôme
France, Plouzane
Ifremer Institut Francais de Recherche Pour L'exploitation de la Mer
Statistics
Citations: 46
Authors: 6
Affiliations: 6
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0046920
e-ISSN:
19326203
Research Areas
Environmental
Participants Gender
Female