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Revista de Biología Tropical

On-line version ISSN 0034-7744Print version ISSN 0034-7744

Abstract

ARIZA-GALLEGO, María-Alejandra; HERRERA-CARMONA, Julio-César; PAYAN, Luis Fernando  and  GIRALDO, Alan. Relationship between sea surface temperature and the nesting of the Olive Ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys olivacea (Testudines: Cheloniidae) in Gorgona Island, Colombian Pacific. Rev. biol. trop [online]. 2020, vol.68, n.2, pp.528-540. ISSN 0034-7744.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v68i2.38642.

Introduction:

Lepidochelys olivacea is the most abundant sea turtle in the Colombian Pacific and oceanographic conditions at the Eastern Tropical Pacific may have an effect on its reproductive behavior

Objective:

To assess the relationship between reproductive aspects of L. olivacea nesting at Gorgona island and sea surface temperature at local and regional scales.

Methods:

Monthly mean data of reproductive attributes associated with nesting females, nests, eggs and hatchlings were established using records from Gorgona’s National Natural Park nesting monitoring and were correlated (cross-correlations) with SST of Gorgona island and Panama Bight, and with the temperature variability of the El Niño 1+2, El Niño 3, El Niño 3.4 and El Niño 4 regions, their thermal anomalies, and the ONI and SOI indexes. Significant correlations were included in a Generalized Additive Model.

Results:

Highest inverse correlation since maximum correlation is 1 was established between visits to the beach, number of nesting females, number of nests, clutch size, incubation days and hatching success and Niño 1+2 region with a lag of 12 months, whereas egg diameter, egg weight, straight carapace length and width and weight of hatchlings were correlated with Niño 4 anomaly, SOI and ONI indexes. It was also found that there is a non-linear tendency to decrease number of nesting females, number of nests, clutch size, egg diameter and egg weight with regional positive anomalies.

Conclusions:

Nesting attributes of L. olivacea in Gorgona correlate mainly with variations in regional SST, being low at high sea surface temperatures the year prior to nesting (12-month lag).

Keywords : ENSO indexes; thermal anomaly; Eastern Tropical Pacific; Colombia; conservation..

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