Study Suggests Leatherback Turtle Decline

From Yale Environment 360:

A warming climate could exacerbate threats facing leatherback turtle populations in the eastern Pacific Ocean, creating conditions that could trigger a 75 percent reduction in turtle numbers by the end of the century, a new study says. Even under existing conditions, turtle births ebb and flow each year, researchers say, with eggs and hatchlings more likely to survive in cooler, rainier seasons, and a greater number of male hatchlings occurring in predominantly female leatherback populations in these conditions. After modeling these population dynamics in light of projected changes in temperature and precipitation in the turtles’ critical nesting areas, particularly the beaches of Costa Rica, researchers from Drexel and Princeton universities projected an increase in egg and hatchling mortality.

To read more, click here–or click here to be taken directly to the academic study, published in Nature Climate Change.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 27th, 2012 at 7:00 am. It is filed under Costa Rica, Nature, Sustainability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.