Assessing coastal artificial light and potential exposure of wildlife at a national scale: the case of marine turtles in Brazil
dc.contributor.author | Colman, LP | |
dc.contributor.author | Lara, PH | |
dc.contributor.author | Bennie, J | |
dc.contributor.author | Broderick, AC | |
dc.contributor.author | de Freitas, JR | |
dc.contributor.author | Marcondes, A | |
dc.contributor.author | Witt, MJ | |
dc.contributor.author | Godley, BJ | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2020-01-06T13:20:21Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2020-01-04 | |
dc.description.abstract | Coastal areas provide critical nesting habitat for marine turtles. Understanding how artificial light might impact populations is key to guide management strategies. Here we assess the extent to which nesting populations of four marine turtle species—leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and two subpopulations of loggerhead (Caretta caretta) turtles—are exposed to light pollution across 604 km of the Brazilian coast. We used yearly night-time satellite images from two 5-year periods (1992–1996 and 2008–2012) from the US Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Programme (DMSP) to determine the proportion of nesting areas that are exposed to detectable levels of artificial light and identify how this has changed over time. Over the monitored time-frame, 63.7% of the nesting beaches experienced an increase in night light levels. Based on nest densities, we identified 54 reproductive hotspots: 62.9% were located in areas potentially exposed to light pollution. Light levels appeared to have a significant effect on nest densities of hawksbills and the northern loggerhead turtle stock, however high nest densities were also seen in lit areas. The status of all species/subpopulations has improved across the time period despite increased light levels. These findings suggest that (1) nest site selection is likely primarily determined by variables other than light and (2) conservation strategies in Brazil appear to have been successful in contributing to reducing impacts on nesting beaches. There is, however, the possibility that light also affects hatchlings in coastal waters, and impacts on population recruitment may take longer to fully manifest in nesting numbers. Recommendations are made to further this work to provide deeper insights into the impacts of anthropogenic light on marine turtles. | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | University of Exeter | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | Natural Environment Research Council | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Published online 4 January 2020 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1007/s10531-019-01928-z | |
dc.identifier.grantnumber | NE/P01156X/1 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/40261 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Springer | en_GB |
dc.rights | Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. | en_GB |
dc.subject | artifical light | en_GB |
dc.subject | coastal development | en_GB |
dc.subject | remote sensing | en_GB |
dc.subject | loggerhead turtle | en_GB |
dc.subject | hawksbill turtle | en_GB |
dc.subject | olive ridley turtle | en_GB |
dc.subject | leatherback turtle | en_GB |
dc.title | Assessing coastal artificial light and potential exposure of wildlife at a national scale: the case of marine turtles in Brazil | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2020-01-06T13:20:21Z | |
dc.identifier.issn | 0960-3115 | |
dc.description | This is the final version. Available from Springer via the DOI in this record. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.journal | Biodiversity and Conservation | en_GB |
dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | en_GB |
dcterms.dateAccepted | 2019-12-30 | |
rioxxterms.version | VoR | en_GB |
rioxxterms.licenseref.startdate | 2020-01-04 | |
rioxxterms.type | Journal Article/Review | en_GB |
refterms.dateFCD | 2020-01-06T13:16:28Z | |
refterms.versionFCD | VoR | |
refterms.dateFOA | 2020-01-06T13:20:27Z | |
refterms.panel | A | en_GB |
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.