Inundation and erosion from wave exposure, storm surge, and rises in sea level are major threats to marine turtle nests, causing localized mortality of eggs ultimately affecting the productivity of marine turtles at the nesting beach and population level. As sea levels rise and storm frequency and intensity increase, strategies to assess and manage risks of wash-over, inundation, and erosion to nesting beaches will become increasingly urgent. Thus, our lab conducts several projects to describe the embryonic tolerance of marine turtle eggs to wave exposure and groundwater inundation and to determine the risk of sea level rise, storms, wave inundation and erosion to critical marine turtle nesting beaches.
IMPACTS OF SEA-LEVEL RISE, TROPICAL STORMS AND HURRICANES ON MARINE TURTLES
SPECIFIC PROJECTS
- Assessment of inundation threat to sea turtle nests to improve management practices in Alabama
- Reproductive output of loggerhead turtles in Alabama: implications from nest relocation
- Identification of inundation and erosion ‘hot spots’ for sea turtles nesting in the northern Gulf of Mexico which may benefit from conservation interventions
PUBLICATIONS
Sella, K.A.N., #Ware, M., Ceriani, S. A., Desjardin, N., Eastman, S., Addison, D., Kraus, M., Trindell, R., Fuentes, M. M. P. B. (2023). Urban pocket beaches as nesting habitat for marine turtles: Their importance and risk from inundation. Global Ecology and Conservation, 41.
Rivas, M., Rodriguez-Caballero, E., Steban, N., Carpio, A., Barreu, B., Fuentes, M. M. P. B. , Roberston, K., Azanza, J., Leon, Y., Ortega, Z. (2023). Uncertain future for global sea turtle populations in face of sea level rise. Scientific Reports, 13:5277.
Ware, M., Ceriani, S. A., Long, J. W., Fuentes, M. M. P. B. (2021). Exposure of Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nests to Waves in the Florida Panhandle. Remote Sensing, 13(14).
Fuentes, M. M. P. B. , Godfrey, M.H., Shaver, D., Ceriani, S., Gredzens, C., Boettcher, R., Ingram, D., Ware, M., Wildermann, N., (2019). Exposure of Marine Turtle Nesting Grounds to Named Storms Along the Continental USA. Remote Sensing 11, 2996.
Ware, M., Long, J. W., Fuentes, M. M. P. B. (2019). Using wave runup modeling to inform coastal species management: An example application for sea turtle nest relocation. Journal of Ocean and Coastal Management. 173, 17-25.
Ware M, and Fuentes, M. M. P. B. (2018). A comparison of methods used to monitor groundwater inundation of sea turtle nests. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 503, 1-7
Fuentes, M. M. P. B. , Bateman, BL, and Hamann M (2011) Relationship between tropical cyclones and the distribution of sea turtle nesting grounds. Journal of Biogeography. 38, 1886-1896.
Fuentes, M. M. P. B. , Limpus CJ, Hamann M (2011) Vulnerability of sea turtle nesting grounds to climate change. Global Change Biology. 17, 140-153.
COLLABORATORS
Matthew Ware, Florida State University
Joseph Long, University of North Carolina Wilmington
Simona Ceriani, Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
Joseph Long, University of North Carolina Wilmington
Simona Ceriani, Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
FUNDING
Sea turtle license Plate , Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division, USFWS
