A new study of the world's seven sea turtle species provides evidence that their numbers are growing overall (unlike many endangered vertebrates), thanks to years of conservation efforts that have played a key role in sea turtle recovery -- even for small sea turtle populations. Sea turtles have historically suffered population declines for reasons that include accidental catch and harvesting adults and eggs.
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| This study demonstrates the long-term benefits of sea turtle conservation efforts globally, and the need for continued funding to maintain recovery [Credit: Kostas Papafitsoros] |
They used estimates from 2010 or later to evaluate the length of time periods required to detect significant trends in abundance within Regional Management Units (which represent discrete groups of nesting sites in certain areas that are distinct from one another based on genetics, distribution, movement, and demography) for each species, finding a majority of population increases (95 significant increases compared to 35 significant decreases).
Despite the encouraging upward population trends, Mazaris et al.'s results complement International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN) assessments of sea turtle status, which lists six sea turtle species as endangered.
The authors also found that while longer time periods of nesting data collection are important for detecting population trends, shorter intervals not currently used by IUCN could still provide important information, though they highlight the need for more updated and continuous nesting site information.
The findings are published in Science Advances.
Source: American Association for the Advancement of Science [September 20, 2017]