The effects of artificial beach nourishment on marine turtles: Differences between loggerhead and green turtles
-
Published source details
Brock K.A., Reece J.S. & Ehrhart L.M. (2009) The effects of artificial beach nourishment on marine turtles: Differences between loggerhead and green turtles. Restoration Ecology, 17, 297-307.
Published source details Brock K.A., Reece J.S. & Ehrhart L.M. (2009) The effects of artificial beach nourishment on marine turtles: Differences between loggerhead and green turtles. Restoration Ecology, 17, 297-307.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
| Action | Category | |
|---|---|---|
|
Restore or maintain beaches (‘beach nourishment’) Action Link |
 |
-
Restore or maintain beaches (‘beach nourishment’)
A controlled, before-and-after study in 2000–2003 on a sandy beach in Florida, USA (Brock et al. 2009) found that nesting success for loggerhead Caretta caretta and green turtles Chelonia mydas declined in the year following beach nourishment, but returned to pre-nourishment levels for loggerheads in the second year following nourishment. Nesting success declined following nourishment for loggerheads (1 year post-nourishment: 30% success; 1 year pre-nourishment: 60% success) and green turtles (1 year post-nourishment: 29%; 2 years pre-nourishment: 64%). Declines in nourished areas were larger than those seen in non-nourished areas over the same period (loggerheads: 63% vs 50%; green turtles: 55% vs 51%). In the second year following nourishment, loggerhead nesting success returned to around pre-nourishment levels (54% success). In 2002, a 5 km stretch of a 40 km beach was artificially nourished with 917,000 m3 of sand just prior to the start of the nesting season. In May–August 2000–2003, nesting activity was monitored by counting turtle emergence tracks on the beach, and nesting success was defined as the percentage of emergences that resulted in nests.
(Summarised by: William Morgan)
