Climate driven egg mortality threatens recovery of Eastern Pacific leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea)

PILAR SANTIDRIÁN TOMILLO; GABRIELA S. BLANCO; FRANK V. PALADINO; JAMES R. SPOTILA

Alberta

Congreso; International Congress of Conservation Biology; 2010

SCB

El Niño is a climatic event that originates in the tropical Pacific Ocean, which has received considerably attention in conservation because of its effects on reproduction and survival of animal species. The population of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) that nest in Northwest Costa Rica constitutes ~50% of the Eastern Pacific leatherback turtles and has declined by ~90-95% due to past egg poaching and incidental capture by fisheries. We measured emergence success of leatherback turtle hatchlings on Playa Grande Costa Rica from 2004-2009 and formulated a mathematical model to calculate emergence success related to climate from 1976 to 2009. Droughts induced by low precipitation levels during El Niño events, resulted in high mortality of leatherback eggs, reaching the highest levels during the strong El Niño event in 1987. More frequent or stronger El Niño events as a result of climate change may prevent population recoveries of depleted Eastern Pacific leatherback turtles.