Marine turtle regional management units 2.0: an updated framework for conservation and research of wide-ranging megafauna species

Bryan P. Wallace; Zachary A. Posnik; Brendan J. Hurley; Andrew D. DiMatteo; Ashleigh Bandimere; Isabel Rodriguez; Sara M. Maxwell; Lucy Meyer; Hannah Brenner; Michael P. Jensen; Erin LaCasella; Brian M. Shamblin; F. Alberto Abreu-Grobois; Kelly R. Stewart; Peter H. Dutton; Hector Barrios-Garrido; Mayuel Dalleau; Florence Dellamico; Karen L. Eckert; Nancy N. FitzSimmons; Marco Garcia-Cruz; Graeme C. Hays; Shaleyla Kelez; Cynthia J. Lagueux; Christine A. Madden Hof; Adolfo Marco; Samir L. T. Martins; Asghar Mobaraki; Jeanne A. Mortimer; Ronel Nel; Andrea D. Phillott; Nicolas J. Pilcher; Nathan F. Putman; ALan F. Rees; Juan M. Rguez-Baron; Jeffrey A. Seminoff; Adhith Swaminathan; Oguz Turkozan; Sarah M. Vargas; Pedro D. Vernet; Sibelle Vilaça; Scott D. Whiting; Brian J. Hutchinson; Paolo Casale; Roderic B. Mast

doi:10.3354/esr01243

ESR

Endangered Species Research

via Mailchimp

ESR 52:209-223 (2023) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01243

Marine turtle regional management units 2.0: an updated framework for conservation and research of wide-ranging megafauna species

Bryan P. Wallace^1,2,*, Zachary A. Posnik^3,4, Brendan J. Hurley⁴, Andrew D. DiMatteo^5,6, Ashleigh Bandimere⁷, Isabel Rodriguez^8,9, Sara M. Maxwell⁸, Lucy Meyer⁴, Hannah Brenner⁴, Michael P. Jensen^10,11, Erin LaCasella¹², Brian M. Shamblin¹³, F. Alberto Abreu-Grobois¹⁴, Kelly R. Stewart¹⁵, Peter H. Dutton¹², Hector Barrios-Garrido^16,17,18, Mayuel Dalleau¹⁹, Florence Dell’amico²⁰, Karen L. Eckert²¹, Nancy N. FitzSimmons¹¹, Marco Garcia-Cruz^22,23, Graeme C. Hays²⁴, Shaleyla Kelez²⁵, Cynthia J. Lagueux²², Christine A. Madden Hof^26,27, Adolfo Marco²⁸, Samir L. T. Martins²⁹, Asghar Mobaraki³⁰, Jeanne A. Mortimer^31,32, Ronel Nel³³, Andrea D. Phillott³⁴, Nicolas J. Pilcher³⁵, Nathan F. Putman³⁶, ALan F. Rees³⁷, Juan M. Rguez-Baron^38,39, Jeffrey A. Seminoff¹², Adhith Swaminathan⁴⁰, Oguz Turkozan^41,42, Sarah M. Vargas⁴³, Pedro D. Vernet^23,44, Sibelle Vilaça⁴⁵, Scott D. Whiting⁴⁶, Brian J. Hutchinson⁷, Paolo Casale⁴⁷, Roderic B. Mast⁷

¹Ecolibrium, Inc., Boulder, CO 80303, USA
²Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
³Oxford University Centre for the Environment, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
⁴Department of Geography, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
⁵CheloniData LLC, Berthoud, CO 80513, USA
⁶McLaughlin Research Corporation, Middletown, RI 02842, USA
⁷Oceanic Society, Ross, CA 94957, USA
⁸School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington, Bothell Campus, Bothell, WA 90811, USA
⁹Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN 46805, USA
¹⁰Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg East, Denmark
¹¹Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD 4222, Australia
¹²Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
¹³Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
¹⁴Unidad Académica Mazatlán, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Autónoma de México, Mazatlán 82000, Mexico
¹⁵The Ocean Foundation, Washington, DC 20036, USA
¹⁶Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo, Zulia, Venezuela
¹⁷King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Mekka 2395, Saudi Arabia
¹⁸TropWATER - Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research, James Cooke University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
¹⁹Seanopsis, Moorea, French Polynesia
²⁰Centre d’Etudes et de Soins pour les Tortues Marines, Aquarium La Rochelle, La Rochelle, France
²¹Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network, Godfrey, IL 62035, USA
²²Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
²³ProOcean, Barcelona, Spain
²⁴School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 4558, Australia
²⁵World Wildlife Fund - Peru, Lima, Peru
²⁶Coral Triangle Programme, World Wildlife Foundation, Brisbane, QLD 4558, Australia
²⁷University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia
²⁸Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain
²⁹BIOS.CV - Conservation of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Sal Rei, Boa Vista 5211, Cape Verde
³⁰Department of Environment, Tehran, Iran
³¹Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
³²Turtle Action Group of Seychelles, Mahé, Seychelles
³³Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
³⁴FLAME University, Pune, Maharashtra, India
³⁵Marine Research Foundation, Kota Kinabalu, Borneo 88450, Malaysia
³⁶LGL Ecological Research Associates, Bryan, TX 77802, USA
³⁷IUCN SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
³⁸JUSTSEA Foundation, Bogotá, Colombia
³⁹Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina, Wilmington, NC, USA
⁴⁰Dakshin Foundation, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560092, India
⁴¹Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Efeler, Aydın 9010, Turkey
⁴²Cyprus Wildlife Research Institute, Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus
⁴³Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Espírito Santo 29075-910, Brazil
⁴⁴Grupo de Trabajo en Tortugas Marinas del Estado Nueva Esparta, La Asuncion, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela
⁴⁵Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara 44121, Italy
⁴⁶Marine Science Program, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Perth, WA, Australia
⁴⁷Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via A. Volta 6, 56126 Pisa, Italy

*Corresponding author: bryan@ecolibrium-inc.com

ABSTRACT: Delineating spatial boundaries that accurately encompass complex, often cryptic, life histories of highly migratory marine megafauna can be a significant conservation challenge. For example, marine turtles range across vast ocean basins and coastal areas, thus complicating the evaluation of relative impacts of multiple overlapping threats and the creation of coherent conservation strategies. To address these challenges, spatially explicit ‘regional management units’ (RMUs) were developed in 2010 for all marine turtle species, globally. RMUs were intended to provide a consistent framework that organizes conspecific assemblages into units above the level of nesting rookeries and genetic stocks, but below the species level, within regional entities that may share demographic trajectories because they experience similar environmental conditions and other factors. From their initial conception, RMUs were intended to be periodically revised using new information about marine turtle distributions, life history, habitat use patterns, and population structure. Here, we describe the process used to update the 2010 RMU framework by incorporating newly published information and inputs from global marine turtle experts who are members of the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group. A total of 48 RMUs for 6 of 7 marine turtle species and 166 distinct genetic stocks for all 7 species are presented herein. The updated RMU framework reflects a significant advance in knowledge of marine turtle biology and biogeography, and it provides improved clarity about the RMU concept and its potential applications. All RMU products have been made open access to support research and conservation initiatives worldwide.

KEY WORDS: Marine turtle · Conservation priorities · Population boundaries · Population delineation · Spatial distribution

Full text in pdf format
Supplementary material

Cite this article as: Wallace BP, Posnik ZA, Hurley BJ, DiMatteo AD and others (2023) Marine turtle regional management units 2.0: an updated framework for conservation and research of wide-ranging megafauna species. Endang Species Res 52:209-223. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01243

Export citation
Share: Facebook - - linkedIn

Cited by

Previous article Next article