Long‐term trends in marine turtle size at maturity at an important Atlantic rookery

For species reaching maturity at a range of ages or sizes, factors that influence juvenile growth and size at maturity may have lasting impacts on overall fitness. Assessing when animals reach maturity is especially challenging for species which are difficult to follow through time as a result of hi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecosphere (Washington, D.C) D.C), 2021-07, Vol.12 (7), p.n/a
Main Authors: Phillips, Katrina F., Stahelin, Gustavo D., Chabot, Ryan M., Mansfield, Katherine L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic reptiles
Caretta caretta
Chelonia mydas
Environmental quality
Estimates
Females
Growth models
life stage assessment
long‐term monitoring
marine turtle
Maturity
Nesting
Reptiles & amphibians
Seasons
size at maturity
size trends
Trends
Turtles
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:For species reaching maturity at a range of ages or sizes, factors that influence juvenile growth and size at maturity may have lasting impacts on overall fitness. Assessing when animals reach maturity is especially challenging for species which are difficult to follow through time as a result of highly migratory behavior, long life spans, or both. We examined nesting female size in a reproductive assemblage of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and loggerheads (Caretta caretta) on the east coast of Florida, USA. We used a long‐term dataset from 1982 to 2019 to estimate a minimum size at maturity interval on the basis of two standard deviations below mean female size for each species. The minimum size intervals for green turtles (81.4–89.3 cm) and loggerheads (68.1–79.1 cm) were lower than most previous estimates in the literature, many of which were simply the smallest individual ever observed. There was a significant decrease in the upper bound of the minimum size interval over the study period for both green turtles (1.6 cm) and loggerheads (4.1 cm). These shifts in size at maturity may be the result of changes in population demographics, habitat quality, and behavioral reactions to these changes. The development and periodic reassessment of robust estimators of maturity are an important part of programs centered around the monitoring and conservation of vulnerable wildlife populations.
ISSN:2150-8925
2150-8925
DOI:10.1002/ecs2.3631