Recovery of green turtle populations and their interactions with coastal dune as a baseline for an integral ecological restoration

Antecedentes y Objetivos: La restauración ecológica se ha centrado en los componentes físicos y vegetales de los ecosistemas, y ha dejado de lado a la fauna silvestre y sus interacciones. Chelonia mydas es un macroherbívoro en peligro de extinción que anida en playas de México y Cuba, e influye en la vegetación costera con aportaciones de materia orgánica. Los objetivos de este estudio fueron analizar su recuperación poblacional, un índice del verdor de la vegetación de duna, así como la cantidad de materia orgánica estimada de sus nidadas antes y después de la implementación de una Norma Oficial Mexicana. Métodos: Se analizaron datos de entre dos y tres décadas de monitoreo biológico en 16 playas de anidación de Chelonia mydas; a partir de ellos se realizaron tres niveles de análisis de indicadores demográficos, la aportación de materia orgánica de las tortugas en la playa y el vigor vegetal a partir de sensores remotos, además de aplicar los estadísticos pertinentes. Resultados clave: Hubo un crecimiento exponencial del número de anidaciones de tortuga verde (entre 12 y 14% anual), asociado con pulsos de reclutamiento poblacional en los años 2000 y 2008. El aporte de materia orgánica a la playa fue significativamente mayor después de un cambio en la estrategia para manejo de las nidadas en México, y se detectó un incremento en el verdor de la vegetación de duna en zonas de anidación alta de Chelonia mydas. Conclusiones: El incremento de las poblaciones de tortuga verde lleva a reflexionar acerca de las implicaciones que tiene la recuperación de especies de fauna sobre otras comunidades en los ecosistemas que habitan, lo que demanda el análisis de los paradigmas actuales y la adaptación de estrategias que atiendan sus necesidades de manejo, procurando las condiciones de integridad ecológica de sus hábitats.Background and Aims: Ecological restoration has focused on the physical and vegetation components of ecosystems, leaving aside studies on wild fauna and their interactions. Chelonia mydas is an endangered macroherbivore that nests on sandy beaches of Mexico and Cuba, and influences the coastal vegetation with organic matter contributions. The objectives of this study were to analyze its population recovery, a greenness index for dune vegetation, and the amount of organic matter estimated from its clutches before and after the implementation of an official Mexican norm. Methods: Biological data obtained from two and three decades of monitoring 16 Chelonia mydas nesting beaches were analyzed; based on these, three levels of demographic indexes were carried out, the contribution of organic matter by marine turtles to the beach and the vegetal vigor using remote sensing, besides implementing the pertinent statistical analysis. Key results: There was an exponential increase of the green turtle nests (between 12 and 14% per year), associated with population recruitment pulses in 2000 and 2008. The contribution of organic matter to the beach was significantly higher after a change in clutches management in Mexico, and an increase in the dune vegetation greenness was detected in high Chelonia mydas nesting zones. Conclusions: The increase of the green turtle populations invites to reflex about the implications of the recovery of species of fauna have on other communities in the ecosystems they inhabit, demanding the analysis of the actual paradigms and the adaptation strategies that attend their management needs, procuring the ecological integrity conditions of their habitats

Critical In-Water Habitats for Post-Nesting Sea Turtles from the Southern Gulf of Mexico

Marine turtles are globally endangered species that spend more than 95% of their life cycle in in-water habitats. Nevertheless, most of the conservation, recovery and research efforts have targeted the on-land habitats, due to their easier access, where adult females lay their eggs. Targeting the large knowledge gaps on the in-water critical habitats of turtles, particularly in the Large Marine Ecosystem Gulf of Mexico, is crucial for their conservation and recovery in the long term. We used satellite telemetry to track 85 nesting females from their beaches after they nested to identify their feeding and residency habitats, their migratory corridors and to describe the context for those areas. We delimited major migratory corridors in the southern Gulf of Mexico and West Caribbean and described physical features of internesting and feeding home ranges located mainly around the Yucatan Peninsula and Veracruz, Mexico. We also contributed by describing general aggregation and movement patterns for the four marine turtle species in the Atlantic, expanding the knowledge of the studied species. Several tracked individuals emigrated from the Gulf of Mexico to as far as Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Bahamas. This information is critical for identifying gaps in marine protection and for deciphering the spatial connectivity in large ocean basins, and it provides an opportunity to assess potential impacts on marine turtle populations and their habitats

Ecological Vulnerability of Adult Female Marine Turtles as Indicators of Opportunities for Regional Socioecosystem Management in the Southern Gulf of Mexico

Planning for marine ecosystems management demands spatially explicit information about structural and functional components, in a tradeoff between including the most taxa and keeping it functional. Sentinel, umbrella, and surrogate taxa are strategic for developing indexes that account for other associated species and contribute to a sustainable administration of our seas. Marine turtles feature the former species descriptions, and the knowledge on their ecology contributes to design conservation and restoration strategies in regions they occupy, such as the Gulf of Mexico. Several administrative tools exist to govern marine territories for biodiversity conservation, and assessing how these tools interact with the ecological vulnerability of endangered species is crucial for improving public policies. We assessed the spatial interactions among ecological sensitivity, vulnerability, and the potential impacts on four marine turtle species in the southern Gulf of Mexico and northwestern Caribbean Sea with territorial management tools (natural protected areas, marine priority sites, and ecoregions). A small percentage of the most vulnerable areas is inside natural protected areas, while marine priority sites include a higher percentage. We identified spatial covering gaps that need to be addressed to ensure the conservation and recovery of these endangered species in the Gulf of Mexico and proposed key regions for maximizing territorial conservation

Ecological Vulnerability of Adult Female Marine Turtles as Indicators of Opportunities for Regional Socioecosystem Management in the Southern Gulf of Mexico

Planning for marine ecosystems management demands spatially explicit information about structural and functional components, in a tradeoff between including the most taxa and keeping it functional. Sentinel, umbrella, and surrogate taxa are strategic for developing indexes that account for other associated species and contribute to a sustainable administration of our seas. Marine turtles feature the former species descriptions, and the knowledge on their ecology contributes to design conservation and restoration strategies in regions they occupy, such as the Gulf of Mexico. Several administrative tools exist to govern marine territories for biodiversity conservation, and assessing how these tools interact with the ecological vulnerability of endangered species is crucial for improving public policies. We assessed the spatial interactions among ecological sensitivity, vulnerability, and the potential impacts on four marine turtle species in the southern Gulf of Mexico and northwestern Caribbean Sea with territorial management tools (natural protected areas, marine priority sites, and ecoregions). A small percentage of the most vulnerable areas is inside natural protected areas, while marine priority sites include a higher percentage. We identified spatial covering gaps that need to be addressed to ensure the conservation and recovery of these endangered species in the Gulf of Mexico and proposed key regions for maximizing territorial conservation

Multiscale distribution patterns of pelagic rafts of sargasso (Sargassum spp.) in the Mexican Caribbean (2014–2020)

As the biomass of pelagic Sargassum spp. increased across the North Atlantic equatorial recirculation region from 2011 onwards, massive rafts of sargasso appeared in the Western Caribbean in 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2020. These events raised concerns regarding their negative consequences on the environment, local income, and human wellbeing. As adequate monitoring and analysis tools are needed for designing in-water and on-beach control strategies to reduce potential negative impacts, more robust and spatially explicit information is needed in order to improve sargasso management and focus restoration efforts. In this paper, we offer a spatiotemporal multiscale description of sargasso distribution and dynamics for 2014–2020 in the Mexican Caribbean: (1) for the entire region (millions of km 2 ); (2) at the local scale (thousands of km 2 ) evaluating the dynamics inside the reef lagoon at Puerto Morelos, Mexico; and finally, (3) specific beach observations (hundreds of km 2 ) derived from data on beach cleaning volumes. Fifteen areas in the Mexican Caribbean, with different sargasso dispersions and on-shore accumulations, were evaluated. The areas around Tulum, Solidaridad, and Puerto Morelos have the most extreme and most frequent episodes but also exhibited the greatest seasonal variability. Extreme sargasso presence can occur in the Western Caribbean in any season, albeit with increasing coverage and recurrence in the summer. Images from a coastal video monitoring station at Puerto Morelos showed that massive sargasso beaching was associated with low energy conditions ( Hs < 0.25 m, wind speed<4 m/s, neap tide), while non-accumulation of sargasso on the beach occurred under high energy conditions ( Hs > 0.4 m , wind speed = 8 m/s, spring tide). Time-series analyses of sargasso beaching showed different periods of historic maximum sargasso coverage over July–October 2018 and others in January–February 2019. Wind and wave regimes influenced sargasso in distinct ways, depending on the coastal section, probably related to coastline morphology, oceanic regime, or the extent of the continental platform. This work presents the longest systematic time series (2014-2020) of high resolution satellite detected sargasso in Mexico. Spatial and temporal patterns are proposed as fundamental steps for managing sargasso accumulations

DataSheet_1_Marine turtle hotspots in the Gulf of Mexico and Mesoamerican Reef: Strengthening management and preparedness.docx

Marine turtles are of the highest ecological concern in terms of conservation and restoration programs and marine territorial ordering. Marine resource-extracting industries have severe negative impacts on their populations and their habitats. Thus, private industries and decision makers require the best and most robust spatially explicit scientific knowledge for a sustainable and responsible operation and government administration. Therefore, the identification of marine turtle hotspots is a strategic milestone for ecosystem management and an integral ecological knowledge about any region. We identified and delimited marine turtle hotspots in the Gulf of Mexico and Mesoamerican Reef. We analyzed satellite-tracked data of 178 individuals belonging to four marine turtle species. We used Brownian bridge movement models to estimate space use surfaces and map algebra to weight and merge layers of multiple species, life stages, and movement phases. The Yucatan Peninsula and central Veracruz in Mexico, along with the Florida Keys and Louisiana coast in the US, harbor the primary hotspots where marine turtles aggregate. We defined four primary hotspots used for migration in the western Gulf of Mexico, around the Yucatan Peninsula, a northern route following the Loop Current, and a southern one towards Gorda Bank, Central America. This study is the largest assessment of marine turtle hotspots in Mexico and Cuba and supports strategies for reinforcing regional management actions for their conservation, as well as a stronger response and preparedness for tackling anthropic threats to these species. This milestone contributes to extending the knowledge frontiers about these species to a new level.</p

Delaying surgery for patients with a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection

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