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Thirty-year recovery trend in the once depleted Hawaiian green sea turtle stock
- Source :
-
Biological Conservation . Jun2004, Vol. 117 Issue 5, p491. 8p. - Publication Year :
- 2004
-
Abstract
- The green sea turtle is one of the long-lived species that comprise the charismatic marine megafauna. The green turtle has a long history of human exploitation with some stocks extinct. Here we report on a 30-year study of the nesting abundance of the green turtle stock endemic to the Hawaiian Archipelago. We show that there has been a substantial long-term increase in abundance of this once seriously depleted stock following cessation of harvesting since the 1970s. This population increase has occurred in a far shorter period of time than previously thought possible. There was also a distinct 3–4 year periodicity in annual nesting abundance that might be a function of regional environmental stochasticity that synchronises breeding behaviour throughout the Archipelago. This is one of the few reliable long-term population abundance time series for a large long-lived marine species, which are needed for gaining insights into the recovery process of long-lived marine species and long-term ecological processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Subjects :
- *GREEN turtle
*ANIMAL sexual behavior
*ANIMAL populations
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00063207
- Volume :
- 117
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Biological Conservation
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 12710042
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2003.08.008