Wallace BP, DiMatteo AD, Hurley BJ, Finkbeiner EM, Bolten AB, Chaloupka MY, Hutchinson BJ, Abreu-Grobois FA, Amorocho D, Bjorndal KA, Bourjea J, Bowen BW, Dueñas RB, Casale P, Choudhury BC, Costa A, Dutton PH, Fallabrino A, Girard A, Girondot M, Godfrey MH, Hamann M, López-Mendilaharsu M, Marcovaldi MA, Mortimer JA, Musick JA, Nel R, Pilcher NJ, Seminoff JA, Troëng S, Witherington B, Mast RB. Regional management units for marine turtles: a novel framework for prioritizing conservation and research across multiple scales.
PLoS One 2010;
5:e15465. [PMID:
21253007 PMCID:
PMC3003737 DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0015465]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 226] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2010] [Accepted: 10/01/2010] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
Resolving threats to widely distributed marine megafauna requires definition of the geographic distributions of both the threats as well as the population unit(s) of interest. In turn, because individual threats can operate on varying spatial scales, their impacts can affect different segments of a population of the same species. Therefore, integration of multiple tools and techniques — including site-based monitoring, genetic analyses, mark-recapture studies and telemetry — can facilitate robust definitions of population segments at multiple biological and spatial scales to address different management and research challenges.
Methodology/Principal Findings
To address these issues for marine turtles, we collated all available studies on marine turtle biogeography, including nesting sites, population abundances and trends, population genetics, and satellite telemetry. We georeferenced this information to generate separate layers for nesting sites, genetic stocks, and core distributions of population segments of all marine turtle species. We then spatially integrated this information from fine- to coarse-spatial scales to develop nested envelope models, or Regional Management Units (RMUs), for marine turtles globally.
Conclusions/Significance
The RMU framework is a solution to the challenge of how to organize marine turtles into units of protection above the level of nesting populations, but below the level of species, within regional entities that might be on independent evolutionary trajectories. Among many potential applications, RMUs provide a framework for identifying data gaps, assessing high diversity areas for multiple species and genetic stocks, and evaluating conservation status of marine turtles. Furthermore, RMUs allow for identification of geographic barriers to gene flow, and can provide valuable guidance to marine spatial planning initiatives that integrate spatial distributions of protected species and human activities. In addition, the RMU framework — including maps and supporting metadata — will be an iterative, user-driven tool made publicly available in an online application for comments, improvements, download and analysis.
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