Browsing by Author "Garcia, Olivia"
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- Variability in the effect of climate variables on the reproductive outputs of sea turtles that share nesting groundsPublication . Garcia, Olivia; Fuentes, Mariana; Castilho, RitaClimate change is expected to impact animals whose life history traits are reliant on environmental parameters. This is the case for sea turtles, who lay their eggs at temperate and tropical beaches and have the development of their embryos dependent on environmental conditions at their nesting grounds. Understanding how sea turtles reproduction will be impacted by climate change is crucial to guide effective management and help maintaining sea turtle populations. Studies that have explored the effects of local climate variables on sea turtles reproductive outputs have focused on individual species, with no research to date comparing effects across species that nest at the same location and under similar conditions. We address this knowledge gap by comparing the effects of climate variables on nests from different species at shared nesting grounds. We used Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) to explore how air temperature, sand temperature, precipitation and humidity affect reproductive outputs of in situ nests of loggerhead (Caretta caretta), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles. Our results show variability in the response of species that nest at the same location with the same seasonality. We conclude that embryos response to local climate is also species specific and therefore, conservation efforts at nesting grounds should take into consideration not only the conditions at each site but also the requirements of each species.