Climate change and marine turtles

摘要

Marine turtles occupy a wide range of terrestrial and marine habitats, and many aspects of their life history have been demonstrated to be closely tied to climatic variables such as ambient temperature and storminess. As a group, therefore, marine turtles may be good indicators of climate change effects on coastal and marine habitats. Despite the small number of species in the taxon and a growing body of research in the field, the evidence base to predict resultant impacts of climate change remains relatively poor. We review the data from peer-reviewed publications to assess the likely impacts of climate change on marine turtles and highlight the types of data that would be mostuseful for an accurate assessment of future effects. The cumulative indications from these previous studies indicate that future research should focus on: (1) climate change effects on key habitats upon which turtles depend; (2) factors that influence nest site selection; (3) the consequences of skewed primary sex ratios; and (4) the effect of climate change on turtles at sea, for example range shifts and dietary breadth. Although it is too early to give detailed management recommendations, careful protection of coastlines along which turtles nest should be considered, as should the protection of beaches that produce male hatchlings, which may be of increased importance in the future. More active management approaches, for example translocation of eggs to suitable yet vacant nesting beaches, may be necessary to consider under worst-case scenarios.