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Atlantic-wide connectivity of Ascension Island green turtles revealed by finer-scale mitochondrial DNA markers

Sophia Coveney, Eva Jiménez-Guri Orcid Logo, Samantha Ball Orcid Logo, Nathalie Mianseko, Annette C. Broderick Orcid Logo, Brendan J. Godley Orcid Logo, Joana M. Hancock Orcid Logo, Welton Quirino Pereira, Aissa Regalla Orcid Logo, Rita Gomes Rocha Orcid Logo, Cheibani Senhoury, Benoit de Thoisy Orcid Logo, Dominic Tilley Orcid Logo, Sarah Maria Vargas Orcid Logo, Sam B. Weber Orcid Logo, Ana Rita Patrício Orcid Logo

Conservation Genetics, Volume: 26, Issue: 6, Pages: 1029 - 1047

Swansea University Author: Sophia Coveney

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DOI (Published version): 10.1007/s10592-025-01720-3

Abstract

Marine turtles undertake long migrations across different geographies and habitats, exposing them to a wide range of threats throughout their lifespan. Analysing population structure and connectivity is key to informing effective conservation management. We expand knowledge of Atlantic-wide connecti...

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Published in: Conservation Genetics
ISSN: 1566-0621 1572-9737
Published: Springer Nature 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70122
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We expand knowledge of Atlantic-wide connectivity of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) by characterising the genetic structure of the Ascension Island nesting population, one of the largest in the Atlantic Ocean, and carrying out Atlantic population structure and mixed stock analyses using high-resolution genetic markers. We amplified a&#x2009;~&#x2009;738 bp fragment (extended D-loop) and a highly polymorphic mitochondrial short tandem repeat (mtSTR) fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region, designating haplotypes based on (1) extended D-loop and (2) the extended D-loop and mtSTR combined. Overall, 11 extended D-loop and 33 combined haplotypes were found, the dominant haplotypes being CM-A8.1 and CM-A8.1/7-12-4-4. Population structure analysis found three main genetic groups: Northwest Atlantic, Northern South America, and South and East Atlantic. 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spelling 2026-01-28T11:55:03.6106859 v2 70122 2025-08-07 Atlantic-wide connectivity of Ascension Island green turtles revealed by finer-scale mitochondrial DNA markers d1d2ee71208adad26732e182016973e3 Sophia Coveney Sophia Coveney true false 2025-08-07 BGPS Marine turtles undertake long migrations across different geographies and habitats, exposing them to a wide range of threats throughout their lifespan. Analysing population structure and connectivity is key to informing effective conservation management. We expand knowledge of Atlantic-wide connectivity of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) by characterising the genetic structure of the Ascension Island nesting population, one of the largest in the Atlantic Ocean, and carrying out Atlantic population structure and mixed stock analyses using high-resolution genetic markers. We amplified a ~ 738 bp fragment (extended D-loop) and a highly polymorphic mitochondrial short tandem repeat (mtSTR) fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region, designating haplotypes based on (1) extended D-loop and (2) the extended D-loop and mtSTR combined. Overall, 11 extended D-loop and 33 combined haplotypes were found, the dominant haplotypes being CM-A8.1 and CM-A8.1/7-12-4-4. Population structure analysis found three main genetic groups: Northwest Atlantic, Northern South America, and South and East Atlantic. Mixed stock analyses indicate Ascension Island as a major source for juvenile foraging aggregations in the Southwest Atlantic (34–55%) and Central Africa (18–78%), with some contribution to West Africa (3–20%). Green turtles are vulnerable to fishery bycatch in the coastal waters of the South and East Atlantic. Our study underlines how improving sample sizes of Atlantic mtSTR haplotypes could further elucidate green turtle connectivity across threatened regions. We urge international collaboration to minimise mtSTR data gaps, in order to enhance connectivity assessments and improve conservation measures between countries that share populations. Journal Article Conservation Genetics 26 6 1029 1047 Springer Nature 1566-0621 1572-9737 mtDNA; Chelonia mydas; mtSTR; Population genetics; Mixed stock analysis; Sea turtles 1 12 2025 2025-12-01 10.1007/s10592-025-01720-3 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) FCT funded ARP through the project “Green turtle marine spatial distribution and potential for adaptation to climate change impacts” with reference 2023.07021.CEECIND/CP2831/CT0012 and doi:https://doi.org/10.54499/2023.07021.CEECIND/CP2831/CT0012, and project UIDB/00329/2025 granted to CE3C. Fieldwork in Guinea-Bissau was funded by the Regional Partnership for Coastal and Marine Conservation (PRCM), through the project “Survies des Tortues Marines”. RGR was supported by a research contract (2022 − 00505.CEECIND) from the FCT. Samples from French Guiana were retrieved from the tissue collection JAGUARS (https://kwata.net/gestion-collection-biologique/) (granted by the French Ministry of Environnement and the Collectivité Territoriale de Guyane, Cayenne, French Guiana). Data contributed by WQP, RGR and SMV were financially supported by Renova Foundation - Brazil via its Technical-Scientific Cooperation Agreement n◦ 30/2018 with FEST - Brazil. WQ was funded by Fundação do Estado do Espírito Santo, Brazil scholarship (#143/2022). DT was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council iCASE studentship [NE/L009501/1] between the University of Exeter and the Ascension Island Government Conservation Department awarded to AB, BG and SW. 2026-01-28T11:55:03.6106859 2025-08-07T10:16:54.9774181 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Sophia Coveney 1 Eva Jiménez-Guri 0000-0002-9592-1077 2 Samantha Ball 0000-0002-5147-7111 3 Nathalie Mianseko 4 Annette C. Broderick 0000-0003-1444-1782 5 Brendan J. Godley 0000-0003-3845-0034 6 Joana M. Hancock 0000-0002-6171-8273 7 Welton Quirino Pereira 8 Aissa Regalla 0000-0003-1522-8211 9 Rita Gomes Rocha 0000-0002-4410-3648 10 Cheibani Senhoury 11 Benoit de Thoisy 0000-0002-8420-5112 12 Dominic Tilley 0000-0002-5427-191x 13 Sarah Maria Vargas 0000-0002-8042-7295 14 Sam B. Weber 0000-0003-1447-4082 15 Ana Rita Patrício 0000-0003-4963-2343 16 70122__35257__78a247bc1843403bb2fdee36e1fc1576.pdf 70122.VoR.pdf 2025-10-06T12:19:27.4088963 Output 2537757 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Atlantic-wide connectivity of Ascension Island green turtles revealed by finer-scale mitochondrial DNA markers
spellingShingle Atlantic-wide connectivity of Ascension Island green turtles revealed by finer-scale mitochondrial DNA markers
Sophia Coveney
title_short Atlantic-wide connectivity of Ascension Island green turtles revealed by finer-scale mitochondrial DNA markers
title_full Atlantic-wide connectivity of Ascension Island green turtles revealed by finer-scale mitochondrial DNA markers
title_fullStr Atlantic-wide connectivity of Ascension Island green turtles revealed by finer-scale mitochondrial DNA markers
title_full_unstemmed Atlantic-wide connectivity of Ascension Island green turtles revealed by finer-scale mitochondrial DNA markers
title_sort Atlantic-wide connectivity of Ascension Island green turtles revealed by finer-scale mitochondrial DNA markers
author_id_str_mv d1d2ee71208adad26732e182016973e3
author_id_fullname_str_mv d1d2ee71208adad26732e182016973e3_***_Sophia Coveney
author Sophia Coveney
author2 Sophia Coveney
Eva Jiménez-Guri
Samantha Ball
Nathalie Mianseko
Annette C. Broderick
Brendan J. Godley
Joana M. Hancock
Welton Quirino Pereira
Aissa Regalla
Rita Gomes Rocha
Cheibani Senhoury
Benoit de Thoisy
Dominic Tilley
Sarah Maria Vargas
Sam B. Weber
Ana Rita Patrício
format Journal article
container_title Conservation Genetics
container_volume 26
container_issue 6
container_start_page 1029
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 1566-0621
1572-9737
doi_str_mv 10.1007/s10592-025-01720-3
publisher Springer Nature
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 Marine turtles undertake long migrations across different geographies and habitats, exposing them to a wide range of threats throughout their lifespan. Analysing population structure and connectivity is key to informing effective conservation management. We expand knowledge of Atlantic-wide connectivity of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) by characterising the genetic structure of the Ascension Island nesting population, one of the largest in the Atlantic Ocean, and carrying out Atlantic population structure and mixed stock analyses using high-resolution genetic markers. We amplified a ~ 738 bp fragment (extended D-loop) and a highly polymorphic mitochondrial short tandem repeat (mtSTR) fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region, designating haplotypes based on (1) extended D-loop and (2) the extended D-loop and mtSTR combined. Overall, 11 extended D-loop and 33 combined haplotypes were found, the dominant haplotypes being CM-A8.1 and CM-A8.1/7-12-4-4. Population structure analysis found three main genetic groups: Northwest Atlantic, Northern South America, and South and East Atlantic. Mixed stock analyses indicate Ascension Island as a major source for juvenile foraging aggregations in the Southwest Atlantic (34–55%) and Central Africa (18–78%), with some contribution to West Africa (3–20%). Green turtles are vulnerable to fishery bycatch in the coastal waters of the South and East Atlantic. Our study underlines how improving sample sizes of Atlantic mtSTR haplotypes could further elucidate green turtle connectivity across threatened regions. We urge international collaboration to minimise mtSTR data gaps, in order to enhance connectivity assessments and improve conservation measures between countries that share populations.
published_date 2025-12-01T05:30:33Z
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