Adaptation to Climate change in marine Turtles

Nest site selection and adaptive capacity

Task group outputs:

1. This Task Group will compile, integrate and analyse the best available information in the Caribbean to better assess the status of nesting beaches in the region and the relationship with the nesting process, generating information which gives some light about the plasticity and adaptive capability of the nesting behaviour to climate change effects. Basic and initial outputs will be the proportion of nests laid in risky zones because of their proximity to high tide levels, as well as hot spots of beach erosion processes.
2. The creation of a standardized protocol for measuring and monitoring adaptation of nesting populations to morphological changes in their nesting beaches. For this endeavour, this task group aims to foster the collaboration of as many specialists as possible with experience assessing the nest site selection and nesting beach monitoring in the Wider Caribbean.
3. We will need to incorporate in the Group index beaches based on different ecological conditions in the region trying to cover the greatest range of variability for the nesting site selection and beach conditions to have the most complete picture of the sea turtle nesting behavior and variability in conditions.
4. Unfortunately, not all sea turtle conservation programs working on the beaches collect either information about the beach dynamics or tag nesting females to individual nesting patterns; however, this Group will identify and propose the best strategy to monitor climate change effects on nesting populations and their habitats by specific indicators (easy to collect, cheap, standardizable and sensitive to the effects of climate change).