<p>Management of predation on sea
turtle nesting beaches is vital to conservation efforts for the vulnerable
loggerhead turtles (<i>Caretta caretta</i>) and olive ridley turtles (<i>Lepidochelys
olivacea</i>). Sea turtles increasingly face threats from invasive and
human-tolerant mammalian predators as human disturbances on nesting beaches rises.
The intensity of mammalian predation has increased in Las Baulas National Park
in Costa Rica which is an important nesting site for several species of
threatened and endangered sea turtles. I analyzed loggerhead and olive ridley
nest predation on four beaches in the United States and Costa Rica that were
chosen for variations in degree of human disturbance and management strategies.
My objectives were to 1) determine if egg predation rates differ at the four
sites, 2) determine the most destructive predators at each location, and 3)
suggest management options to alleviate mammalian threats to turtle clutches on
Playa Grande and Playa Cabuyal in Costa Rica. My results show that the beaches
without a nest protection or predator control program had very high rates of predation.
Invasive mammalian predators and mammalian predators associated with human disturbance
were the most destructive at the four sites. I recommend that regulations
regarding dogs and the take of eggs from the beach are enforced at Playa
Cabuyal and that physical nest protection is rapidly implemented at Playa
Grande. I also recommend that the National Park consider managing raccoon
predation by removing problem individuals, but caution that they do so in a way
that maintains the animals’ role in the ecosystem.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/14818125 |
| Date | 23 July 2021 |
| Creators | Carlynn Nicole Cornhill (11002167) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/DEPREDATION_OF_OLIVE_RIDLEY_AND_LOGGERHEAD_TURTLE_CLUTCHES_ON_BEACHES_WITH_AND_WITHOUT_PREDATOR_MANAGEMNT/14818125 |
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