Alarm bells ring as turtle growth rates decline

An unprecedented regional study of turtle growth rates by Bjorndal et al, compiled scientific data on hawksbill turtle growth rates collected over a 33 year period from 24 sites around the Caribbean. The study concluded that since 1997 turtle growth rates have declined dramatically and that this appears to be closely tied to climate change e ects, El Niño Southern Oscil- lation uctuations and increasing sea surface temperatures. 

This news item is on:

Bjorndal, K. A., et al. 2016. Somatic growth dynamics of West Atlantic hawksbill sea turtles: a spatio-temporal perspective. Ecosphere 7(5): e01279 

This news article was published in BioNews 30.

 BioNews is produced by the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance and funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.