Journal article
Climate driven egg and hatchling mortality threatens survival of eastern Pacific leatherback turtles
PloS one, v 7(5), pp e37602-e37602
2012
PMID: 22649544
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Egg-burying reptiles need relatively stable temperature and humidity in the substrate surrounding their eggs for successful development and hatchling emergence. Here we show that egg and hatchling mortality of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in northwest Costa Rica were affected by climatic variability (precipitation and air temperature) driven by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Drier and warmer conditions associated with El Niño increased egg and hatchling mortality. The fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects a warming and drying in Central America and other regions of the World, under the SRES A2 development scenario. Using projections from an ensemble of global climate models contributed to the IPCC report, we project that egg and hatchling survival will rapidly decline in the region over the next 100 years by ∼50-60%, due to warming and drying in northwestern Costa Rica, threatening the survival of leatherback turtles. Warming and drying trends may also threaten the survival of sea turtles in other areas affected by similar climate changes.
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Details
- Title
- Climate driven egg and hatchling mortality threatens survival of eastern Pacific leatherback turtles
- Creators
- Pilar Santidrián Tomillo - Department of Biology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America. ms454@drexel.eduVincent S SabaGabriela S BlancoCharles A StockFrank V PaladinoJames R Spotila
- Publication Details
- PloS one, v 7(5), pp e37602-e37602
- Publisher
- Public LIbrary of Science (PLOS); United States
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000305335800063
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84861379065
- Other Identifier
- 991014877886104721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Zoology