Sea Turtle Eggs Unlikely To Survive Higher Temps Across Multiple Ranges - Sex Ratio Probs.,Egg Death

[hatrack]

EDIT

A new study finds that for the world's largest population of sea turtles -- in Australia's northern Great Barrier Reef -- blazing hot sands pose the greatest threat to the animals' breeding success over the long term. The researchers predict that from now until 2030, sea level rise will do the most harm to turtle breeding grounds. However, by 2070, sands in many areas will be so scorching that eggs could not survive.

"Different studies look at how a single climatic process is going to affect nesting grounds," study lead author Marianna Fuentes of James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, told Discovery News. "But all the climatic processes are going to happen simultaneously."

The new work on sea turtles -- gentle, charismatic denizens of our oceans that keep ecosystems balanced by grazing kelp and algae -- evaluated the combined effects. Fuentes and her colleagues gathered what was known from studies of individual threats and surveyed experts' views of their relative significance. They published the findings in Global Change Biology.

Experts were most certain about the effects of warming beaches. Sand temperatures determine the sex ratio of turtle eggs. "With increasing temperature we get more female turtles being produced," Fuentes said. Warmer temperatures also bring reduced hatchling success, more deformities, and, above about 91 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius), the eggs die. Installing shady areas on the beach, replanting vegetation along beach edges, or relocating eggs to cooler places are all possible strategies for protecting eggs from overheating, Fuentes said. The findings could also help prioritize conservation efforts. "In the long term, it doesn't really matter if you mitigate against impacts from sea-level rise because increasing temperatures will be causing most of the damage," Fuentes said.

EDIT

http://news.discovery.com/animals/sea-turtles-global-warming.html

[thecrow]

1. Interesting that as temps warm there are more females

Has this happened before? Do the eggs "know" that if it is warmer, more females will have a better chance at keeping the species alive? Stay tuned.... I guess

[TxRider]

2. Well

They have survived for a very very long time, this isn't the turtles first rodeo with climate change.