‘Conservation of sea turtle nesting in the Atlantic: evaluation of the factors influencing reproductive success and recommendations for the management of endangered populations’

Carlos Carreras Huergo, Ciro Rico Lomeli, Cynthia Camacho Muñoz, Elena Abella Pérez, Gerardo Gold Bouchot, Juan Patiño, Liliana Quiñones Chaves, Vivian Patricia Páez.

Ecophysiological, ecotoxicological and genetic studies will be carried out on reproducing females and eggs on nesting beaches, combined with ecotoxicological studies of juveniles in feeding grounds along the Spanish coast. Objectives are as follows:1. Evaluate the conservation problems affecting sea turtle nesting in large areas of the Atlantic, with particular incidence in the Atlantic coast of Central America.2. Evaluate the influence of proximal environmental factors on the reproductive effort, hatching success and quality of neonates of the turtles under study. 3. Analyse the impact of standard techniques of management, protection and translocation of sea turtle nests, and propose safer and more effective protocols. 4. Compare the bioaccumulation of pollutants among juveniles in Mediterranean feeding grounds, and among females, eggs and neonates in nesting grounds. 5. Evaluate the relationship between the accumulation of diverse pollutants in turtle eggs and a) the quality of the clutch, and b) hatching and emergence success and the characteristics of neonates.6. Determine the genetic structure and variability of different nesting populations of sea turtles. The aim is to produce scientific grounds and methodological proposals for improving management and translocation protocols for sea turtle nests.