Martins Samir, Ferreira-Veiga Nádia, Rodrigues Zuleika, Querido Adélcio, Loureiro Nuno de Santos, Freire Kátia, Abella Elena, Oujo Carolina, Marco Adolfo
Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Algarve, Gambelas, P-8005-139 Faro, Portugal.
BIOS.CV - Conservation of the Environment and Sustainable Development, CP 52111, Sal Rei - Boa Vista Island, Cabo Verde.
MethodsX. 2021 Sep 16;8:101518. doi: 10.1016/j.mex.2021.101518. eCollection 2021.
This paper evaluated the efficiency of beach hatcheries as a conservation tool for threatened sea turtle clutches. During six nesting seasons (2013 to 2018), several thousand high-risk clutches from loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) were relocated to a hatchery constructed on the same beach, within the Sea Turtle Natural Reserve (STNR, Boa Vista Island, Cabo Verde). Some parameters like hatching success; incubation period, hatchlings' morphology and their behavioral response were compared to in-situ clutches.•Our findings confirmed that the in-situ nests within the STNR had extremely high egg mortality that was usually over 70 %. Mean hatching success of clutches relocated to hatcheries was significantly higher than in-situ clutches with mean values between 70 to 85 % ( < 0.0001).•No significant differences were observed in the incubation period ( = 0.786) and morphology of hatchlings (all > 0.05) between relocated and in-situ clutches.•This study provided a detailed method and recommendations for sea turtle clutches relocation to the hatchery, that can be beneficial for endangered sea turtle population specially where hatching success is very low.
本文评估了海滩孵化场作为濒危海龟巢穴保护工具的效率。在六个筑巢季节（2013年至2018年）期间，数千个来自蠵龟（Caretta caretta）的高风险巢穴被转移到海龟自然保护区（STNR，佛得角博阿维斯塔岛）内同一海滩上建造的一个孵化场。将一些参数，如孵化成功率、孵化期、幼龟形态及其行为反应与原位巢穴进行了比较。
•我们的研究结果证实，STNR内的原位巢穴卵死亡率极高，通常超过70%。转移到孵化场的巢穴的平均孵化成功率显著高于原位巢穴，平均值在70%至85%之间（<0.0001）。
•转移巢穴和原位巢穴之间在孵化期（=0.786）和幼龟形态方面均未观察到显著差异（所有p>0.05）。
•本研究为将海龟巢穴转移到孵化场提供了详细的方法和建议，这对濒危海龟种群有益，特别是在孵化成功率非常低的地方。
