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Abundance and survival rates of green turtles in an urban environment: coexistence of humans and an endangered species

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Abstract

Longitudinal capture-mark-recapture data were used to estimate abundance and survival rates for green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in San Diego Bay, California, USA. These turtles were closely associated with warm effluent from a power plant during winter months. The life stage distribution of green turtles in the bay ranged from post-pelagic juveniles to adults (44.0–110.4 cm straight carapace length). During 99 capture sessions between December 2, 1990, and March 25, 2009, 96 individual green turtles were caught. To estimate abundance and survival rates, robust-design mark-recapture models were fitted to capture-recapture histories using software MARK. The estimated annual survival rate was 0.861 (SE = 0.147, 95% CI = 0.356–0.986), whereas annual abundance ranged from 16 (SE = 6.3, 95% CI = 4–29) to 61 (SE = 13.2, 95% CI = 36–88). This study provides the first survival rate and abundance estimates for a green turtle foraging population in the highly industrialized San Diego Bay.

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Notes

  1. Tom Liebst, Dynergy South Bay LLC, 990 Bay Blvd., Chula Vista, CA 91911.

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Acknowledgments

Data collections were supported by Elyse Bixby, Marilyn Dudley, Amy Frey, Luana Galver, Lauren Hansen, Lauren Hess, Stephen Johnson, Amy Jue, Erin LaCasella, Vicki Pease, Dan Prosperi, Suzanne Roden, and numerous other volunteers over the years. We thank George Balazs for providing tags and advise. Tom Liebst of Dynergy, Don Waller and Kent Miles of San Diego Gas and Electric, and Eileen Maher of the Unified Port of San Diego helped with site access. Funding and other resources were provided by the San Diego Fish and Wildlife Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute, San Diego State University, and NOAA-Fisheries. Dr. Jim Hines kindly ran RDSURVIV on our data. Amanda Karch helped literature search and editing of an earlier version of the manuscript. The manuscript was improved by comments from Dr. Eric Archer, Dr. Kelly Stewart, and two anonymous reviewers. The research was conducted under the NMFS Scientific Research Permit 697, 988, 1297, and 1591, and California Department of Fish and Game Permit 0411.

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Correspondence to Tomoharu Eguchi.

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Communicated by R. Lewison.

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Eguchi, T., Seminoff, J.A., LeRoux, R.A. et al. Abundance and survival rates of green turtles in an urban environment: coexistence of humans and an endangered species. Mar Biol 157, 1869–1877 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-010-1458-9

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