Global Conservation Priorities for Marine Turtles

By Bryan P. Wallace, A. Dimatteo, A. Bolten, M. Chaloupka, B. Hutchinson, F. A. Abreu-Grobois, J. Mortimer, Jeffrey A. Seminoff, Diego Amorocho, K. Bjorndal and 21 more. PLoS ONE, 2011

609 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Where conservation resources are limited and conservation targets are diverse, robust yet flexible priority-setting frameworks are vital. Priority-setting is especially important for geographically widespread species with distinct populations subject to multiple threats that operate on different spatial and temporal scales. Marine turtles are widely distributed and exhibit intra-specific variations in population sizes and trends, as well as reproduction and morphology. However, current global extinction risk assessment frameworks do not assess conservation status of spatially and biologically distinct marine turtle Regional Management Units (RMUs), and thus do not capture variations in population trends, impacts of threats, or necessary conservation actions across individual populations. To address this issue, we developed a new assessment framework that allowed us to evaluate, compare and organize marine turtle RMUs according to status and threats criteria. Because conservation priorities can vary widely (i.e. from avoiding imminent extinction to maintaining long-term monitoring efforts) we developed a “conservation priorities portfolio” system using categories of paired risk and threats scores for all RMUs (n = 58). We performed these assessments and rankings globally, by species, by ocean basin, and by recognized geopolitical bodies to identify patterns in risk, threats, and data gaps at different scales. This process resulted in characterization of risk and threats to all marine turtle RMUs, including identification of the world's 11 most endangered marine turtle RMUs based on highest risk and threats scores. This system also highlighted important gaps in available information that is crucial for accurate conservation assessments. Overall, this priority-setting framework can provide guidance for research and conservation priorities at multiple relevant scales, and should serve as a model for conservation status assessments and priority-setting for widespread, long-lived taxa.

Subfields: Ecology, Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ff1d13f14ecc65093ca8fd1c788db1c0f7c7fb02

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Ecology

1. C. Simpfendorfer
2. P. Robinson
3. P. Kyne
4. J. Carlson
5. P. Casale
6. Daniel P. Costa
7. Ricardo Rocha
8. D. Russo

In Global and Planetary Change

1. C. Simpfendorfer
2. N. Dulvy
3. P. Luschi
4. P. Robinson
5. P. Dutton
6. Daniel P. Costa
7. D. Russo
8. M. Cabeza

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

1. C. Simpfendorfer
2. N. Dulvy
3. P. Luschi
4. J. Carlson
5. P. Kyne
6. P. Dutton
7. P. Casale
8. Daniel P. Costa

Citations in the corpus

• New Insights into Pelagic Migrations: Implications for Ecology and Conservation (2012, background): “…for identifying key habitat for both implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs) (Maxwell et al. 2011a, Peckham et al. 2007, Schofield et al. 2007, Wallace et al. 2011, Witt et al. 2011, Žydelis et al. 2011) and determination of the spatial and temporal extent of such management measures.”
• Advances in the Application of Genetics in Marine Turtle Biology and Conservation (2017, background): “…human threats impact marine turtles, it is challenging to link human activities Frontiers in Marine Science | www.frontiersin.org 12 June 2017 | Volume 4 | Article 156 to population level effects, which is often key information for conservation and management action (Wallace et al., 2011).”
• Insular bats and research effort: a review of global patterns and priorities (2017, background): “The IUCN Red List category is one of the major determinants influencing priority setting for conservation efforts (Wilson et al. 2006, Isaac et al. 2007, Joseph et al. 2009, Wallace et al. 2011).”
• Population stock structure of leatherback turtles (Dermochelyscoriacea) in the Atlantic revealed using mtDNA and microsatellite markers (2013, background): “Setting appropriate conservation priorities is important for sea turtles since all species have several populations which are threatened with extinction (Wallace et al. 2011).”
• Ghosts of the coast: global extinction risk and conservation of sawfishes (2016, background): “It is essential to first develop a global overview of species conservation status and actions needed as has been done here, and for similarly distributed marine turtles (Wallace et al., 2010, 2011).”
• Movement patterns of marine turtles in the Mediterranean Sea: a review (2014, background): “The other two species have Mediterranean populations recognised as regional management units, with the green turtle unit being considered at high risk (Wallace et al. 2011).”