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Long-term changes in adult size of green turtles at Aldabra Atoll and implications for clutch size, sexual dimorphism and growth rates

Jeanne A. Mortimer, Jennifer Appoo, Bruno Bautil, Michael Betts, April J. Burt, Roselle Chapman, Jock C. Currie, Naomi Doak, Nicole Esteban Orcid Logo, Anna Liljevik, Jourdan Terence Mahoune, Catherina Onezia, Pierre Pistorius, Heather Richards, Uzice Samedi, Cheryl L. Sanchez, Wendy Seabrook, Alex Underwood, Janske van de Crommenacker, Rainer von Brandis, Graeme C. Hays

Marine Biology, Volume: 169, Issue: 10

Swansea University Author: Nicole Esteban Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1007/s00227-022-04111-1

Abstract

Around the world, declines in the mean size of nesting sea turtles have been reported with concerns of a concomitant decrease in the reproductive output of populations. Here, we explore this possibility using long-term observations of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) at Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles. Base...

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Published in: Marine Biology
ISSN: 0025-3162 1432-1793
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2022
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61283
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Based on&#x2009;&gt;&#x2009;4500 individual measurements over 21 years (1996&#x2013;2016), we found the curved carapace length of nesting females declined by about 0.64 cm per decade, from 111.43 to 110.08 cm. For 391 individuals that were measured more than once with measurement interval of 2.8&#x2013;19 years apart, the mean growth rate was 0.14 cm year&#x2212;1. Comparisons between the size of adult females and males were based on 23 and 14 weight measurements, 107 and 33 carapace length measurements and 103 and 33 carapace width measurements, respectively, taken during 1981&#x2013;1983. Adult females were larger than males, with the sexual dimorphism index, i.e. the ratio of size of the larger sex to the smaller, being 1.09 and 1.10 for carapace length and width, respectively, and 1.25 for weight. Smaller females tended to lay fewer eggs per clutch but the decrease in female mean size was accompanied by increases in numbers of turtles nesting annually, such that the estimated total numbers of eggs per year increased from 1.3 million to 2.0 million between 1996 and 2016. 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spelling 2022-10-12T15:02:25.6014895 v2 61283 2022-09-20 Long-term changes in adult size of green turtles at Aldabra Atoll and implications for clutch size, sexual dimorphism and growth rates fb2e760b83b4580e7445092982f1f319 0000-0003-4693-7221 Nicole Esteban Nicole Esteban true false 2022-09-20 SBI Around the world, declines in the mean size of nesting sea turtles have been reported with concerns of a concomitant decrease in the reproductive output of populations. Here, we explore this possibility using long-term observations of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) at Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles. Based on > 4500 individual measurements over 21 years (1996–2016), we found the curved carapace length of nesting females declined by about 0.64 cm per decade, from 111.43 to 110.08 cm. For 391 individuals that were measured more than once with measurement interval of 2.8–19 years apart, the mean growth rate was 0.14 cm year−1. Comparisons between the size of adult females and males were based on 23 and 14 weight measurements, 107 and 33 carapace length measurements and 103 and 33 carapace width measurements, respectively, taken during 1981–1983. Adult females were larger than males, with the sexual dimorphism index, i.e. the ratio of size of the larger sex to the smaller, being 1.09 and 1.10 for carapace length and width, respectively, and 1.25 for weight. Smaller females tended to lay fewer eggs per clutch but the decrease in female mean size was accompanied by increases in numbers of turtles nesting annually, such that the estimated total numbers of eggs per year increased from 1.3 million to 2.0 million between 1996 and 2016. Therefore, a decrease in mean size of nesting females has not compromised egg production for this population. Journal Article Marine Biology 169 10 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 0025-3162 1432-1793 Marine turtles; Adult body size; Growth rates; Carapace measurements; Clutch size; Western Indian Ocean; Assomption; Cosmoledo; Farquhar 27 9 2022 2022-09-27 10.1007/s00227-022-04111-1 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences COLLEGE CODE SBI Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) WWF International, Grant number: 1809; Global Environment Facility, Grant number: EMPS Project J1, SEYMEMP; Fondation Bertarelli, Grant number: 2017-04 2022-10-12T15:02:25.6014895 2022-09-20T10:41:26.7627537 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Jeanne A. Mortimer 1 Jennifer Appoo 2 Bruno Bautil 3 Michael Betts 4 April J. Burt 5 Roselle Chapman 6 Jock C. Currie 7 Naomi Doak 8 Nicole Esteban 0000-0003-4693-7221 9 Anna Liljevik 10 Jourdan Terence Mahoune 11 Catherina Onezia 12 Pierre Pistorius 13 Heather Richards 14 Uzice Samedi 15 Cheryl L. Sanchez 16 Wendy Seabrook 17 Alex Underwood 18 Janske van de Crommenacker 19 Rainer von Brandis 20 Graeme C. Hays 21 61283__25425__222326b45cd64939976b9cae7868b881.pdf 61283_VoR.pdf 2022-10-12T15:01:33.7870027 Output 1118175 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2022. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Long-term changes in adult size of green turtles at Aldabra Atoll and implications for clutch size, sexual dimorphism and growth rates
spellingShingle Long-term changes in adult size of green turtles at Aldabra Atoll and implications for clutch size, sexual dimorphism and growth rates
Nicole Esteban
title_short Long-term changes in adult size of green turtles at Aldabra Atoll and implications for clutch size, sexual dimorphism and growth rates
title_full Long-term changes in adult size of green turtles at Aldabra Atoll and implications for clutch size, sexual dimorphism and growth rates
title_fullStr Long-term changes in adult size of green turtles at Aldabra Atoll and implications for clutch size, sexual dimorphism and growth rates
title_full_unstemmed Long-term changes in adult size of green turtles at Aldabra Atoll and implications for clutch size, sexual dimorphism and growth rates
title_sort Long-term changes in adult size of green turtles at Aldabra Atoll and implications for clutch size, sexual dimorphism and growth rates
author_id_str_mv fb2e760b83b4580e7445092982f1f319
author_id_fullname_str_mv fb2e760b83b4580e7445092982f1f319_***_Nicole Esteban
author Nicole Esteban
author2 Jeanne A. Mortimer
Jennifer Appoo
Bruno Bautil
Michael Betts
April J. Burt
Roselle Chapman
Jock C. Currie
Naomi Doak
Nicole Esteban
Anna Liljevik
Jourdan Terence Mahoune
Catherina Onezia
Pierre Pistorius
Heather Richards
Uzice Samedi
Cheryl L. Sanchez
Wendy Seabrook
Alex Underwood
Janske van de Crommenacker
Rainer von Brandis
Graeme C. Hays
format Journal article
container_title Marine Biology
container_volume 169
container_issue 10
publishDate 2022
institution Swansea University
issn 0025-3162
1432-1793
doi_str_mv 10.1007/s00227-022-04111-1
publisher Springer Science and Business Media LLC
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Around the world, declines in the mean size of nesting sea turtles have been reported with concerns of a concomitant decrease in the reproductive output of populations. Here, we explore this possibility using long-term observations of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) at Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles. Based on > 4500 individual measurements over 21 years (1996–2016), we found the curved carapace length of nesting females declined by about 0.64 cm per decade, from 111.43 to 110.08 cm. For 391 individuals that were measured more than once with measurement interval of 2.8–19 years apart, the mean growth rate was 0.14 cm year−1. Comparisons between the size of adult females and males were based on 23 and 14 weight measurements, 107 and 33 carapace length measurements and 103 and 33 carapace width measurements, respectively, taken during 1981–1983. Adult females were larger than males, with the sexual dimorphism index, i.e. the ratio of size of the larger sex to the smaller, being 1.09 and 1.10 for carapace length and width, respectively, and 1.25 for weight. Smaller females tended to lay fewer eggs per clutch but the decrease in female mean size was accompanied by increases in numbers of turtles nesting annually, such that the estimated total numbers of eggs per year increased from 1.3 million to 2.0 million between 1996 and 2016. Therefore, a decrease in mean size of nesting females has not compromised egg production for this population.
published_date 2022-09-27T04:20:01Z
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