Alan F Rees

University of Exeter | UoE · Centre for Ecology and Conservation

Assessing sea turtle movements and connectivity among different areas is pivotal to understanding their biology and implementing efficient conservation actions. In the Adriatic Sea, one of the most important sea turtle foraging areas in the Mediterranean, a total of 311 capture–mark–recapture (CMR) records (mostly bycatch) from 294 loggerhead turtl...

Here we present 38 yrs of nesting data of the loggerhead population in Laganas Bay, Zakynthos, Greece, adding data for 20102021 to existing published data for 19842009. This rookery, encompassing 6 discrete beaches of 5.5 km total length, features the highest nesting density in the Mediterranean. The annual nest numbers, ranging from 667 to 2018, s...

The northwestern Indian Ocean hosts globally crucial marine biodiversity, which is relatively understudied. There has, however, been significant research and conservation effort focused on marine turtles across the region in recent decades. We undertook an exhaustive review of 251 relevant publications to extract and collate the current information...

The loggerhead sea turtle ( Caretta caretta ), has the broadest distribution among sea turtle species in the Mediterranean and requires regional and international collaborations in addition to local efforts to better inform conservation actions. Molecular techniques are powerful tools to assess population dynamics at large scales, especially by det...

The loggerhead sea turtle ( Caretta caretta ), has the broadest distribution among sea turtle species in the Mediterranean and requires regional and international collaborations in addition to local efforts to better inform conservation actions. Molecular techniques are powerful tools to assess population dynamics at large scales, especially by det...

Although published literature regarding the 5 species of marine turtle found along the continental African east coast has grown substantially over the last decades, a comprehensive synthesis of their status and ecology is lacking. Using a mixed methods approach, which com- bined an exhaustive literature review and expert elicitation, we assessed th...

Aim Understanding the spatial ecology of animal movements is a critical element in conserving long‐lived, highly mobile marine species. Analyzing networks developed from movements of six sea turtle species reveals marine connectivity and can help prioritize conservation efforts. Location Global. Methods We collated telemetry data from 1235 indivi...

Although published literature regarding the 5 species of marine turtle found along the continental African east coast has grown substantially over the last decades, a comprehensive synthesis of their status and ecology is lacking. Using a mixed methods approach, which combined an exhaustive literature review and expert elicitation, we assessed the...

The species status assessment for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive is structured around five Good Environmental Status (GES) criteria, i.e., by-catch rate, population abundance, population demographic characteristics, species distribution and habitat for the species. The MSFD Biodiversity theme for species includes, among others, some highly...

The Marine Turtle Specialist Groups Regional Reporting initiative aims to gather information from all all Regional Management Units (RMUs) updating on the current status and knowledge for all sea turtle populations (RMUs) in such a manner that it is presented in a standardized form and made available to the public. In the case of the Mediterranean...

Following a multi-decadal tagging program at loggerhead nesting areas in Greece, 28 individual turtles have been identified with reproductive longevities greater than 21 yrs, ranging from 22 to 33 yrs. Continuation of this long-term tagging program, along with improvement of tag retention through usage of PIT tags, are expected to increase the here...

Reflections on sea turtle conservation - Volume 54 Issue 3 - B. J. Godley, A. C. Broderick, L. P. Colman, A. Formia, M. H. Godfrey, M. Hamann, A. Nuno, L. C. M. Omeyer, A. R. Patrício, A. D. Phillott, A. F. Rees, K. Shanker

Abandoned, lost or discarded fishing nets, (ghost nets) represent a major threat to marine vertebrates. However, thorough assessments of their impact on threatened species are largely missing. In the Maldives, olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) are frequently caught in ghost nets however the archipelago does not support a significant...

Data have now been compiled from the Indian Ocean to complete the first global map of loggerhead telemetry (pp. 32–33). This is the unique story of Indian Ocean loggerheads, in the final chapter in this series of ocean-scale overviews.

Bycatch is one of the key threats to juvenile marine turtles in the Mediterranean Sea. As fishing methods are regional or habitat specific, the susceptibility of marine turtles may differ according to inter- and intra-population variations in foraging ecology. An understanding of these variations is necessary to assess bycatch susceptibility and to...

The distributions of migratory species in the ocean span local, national and international jurisdictions. Across these ecologically interconnected regions, migratory marine species interact with anthropogenic stressors throughout their lives. Migratory connectivity, the geographical linking of individuals and populations throughout their migratory...

Hawksbill turtles from nesting areas in the south of the Arabian/Persian Gulf have been shown to migrate to numerous individual foraging sites across the region and undertake “summer migration loops” (SMLs) to avoid the most extreme sea temperatures. We tracked hawksbills nesting in Kuwait (n = 4) that migrated to hitherto undescribed foraging site...

The inconsistency in the determination of the Good Environmental Status for species assessment under the first cycle of the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive emerged in a harmonisation exercise. This exercise was launched with the species’ identification of MSFD Descriptor’s 1 concern and the collection of the operational or developing indic...

The finding of a possible hybrid between loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) and a green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is reported in the Mediterranean Sea (Greece).

The available information regarding the 2 sea turtle species breeding in the Mediter-ranean (loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta and green turtle Chelonia mydas) is reviewed, including biometrics and morphology, identification of breeding and foraging areas, ecology and behaviour, abundance and trends, population structure and dynamics, anthropogenic...

ABSTRACT: The available information regarding the 2 sea turtle species breeding in the Mediterranean (loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta and green turtle Chelonia mydas) is reviewed, including biometrics and morphology, identification of breeding and foraging areas, ecology and behaviour, abundance and trends, population structure and dynamics, anth...

The use of satellite systems and manned aircraft surveys for remote data collection has been shown to be transformative for sea turtle conservation and research by enabling the collection of data on turtles and their habitats over larger areas than can be achieved by surveys on foot or by boat. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones are increasi...

Many marine megavertebrate taxa, including sea turtles, disperse widely from their hatching or birthing locations but display natal homing as adults. We used flipper tagging, satellite tracking and genetics to identify the origin of loggerhead turtles living in Amvrakikos Gulf, Greece. This location has been identified as hosting regionally importa...

In 2010, an international group of 35 sea turtle researchers refined an initial list of more than 200 research questions into 20 metaquestions that were considered key for management and conservation of sea turtles. These were classified under 5 categories: reproductive biology , biogeography, population ecology, threats and conservation strategies...

This study examines the invertebrate groups present, and their impact, within nests of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the Laganas Bay rookery, Zakynthos, Greece. Nine invertebrate families were recorded infesting nests, the most prevalent of which was Sarcophagidae (Diptera). Just 3.1% of eggs sampled were infested, which was similar t...

AimLevels of sea turtle bycatch in the Mediterranean are thought to be unsustainable. We provide a comprehensive overview of adult green turtle (Chelonia mydas) distribution during nesting, migration and foraging phases, highlighting transitory as well as residential areas of high use to facilitate adequate protection for this long-lived, migratory...

Genetic markers have been widely used in marine turtles to assess population structuring and origin of individuals in common feeding grounds, which are key elements for understanding their ecology and for developing conservation strategies. However, these analyses are very sensitive to missing information, especially from abundant nesting sites. Ky...

Loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta use a wide variety of foraging strategies, and some populations forage in sub-optimal habitats. Different foraging strategies may not be equivalent in terms of fitness and may result in differences in adult body size and clutch size among populations. Accordingly, we tested whether differences in clutch size among...

There is a paucity of information on the presence and nesting of green turtles, Chelonia mydas, in Kuwait, and known nesting habitats have been altered in recent years. Through beach monitoring and satellite telemetry, we determined that green turtle nesting is now limited to Qaru Island with 1–5 turtles nesting annually and that foraging habitats...

Initial inception report of rapid assessment survey of Northern Qatar.

Initial inception report of rapid assessment survey of Northern Qatar.

As the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) is a philopatric species with a strong genetic structure, the analysis of mtDNA can be used to track evolutionary and colonisation events. In this study we use a genetic approach to understand the population structure of C. caretta in the Mediterranean Sea and to test whether loggerheads could have colonis...

We tracked two adult female green turtles (Chelonia mydas) from their nesting location on Masirah Island, Oman (lat 20.4416N, long 58.8436E) into the Red Sea. Comparing these tracks with published movements of nesting loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) turtles, also tracked from Masirah, revealed remarkably differ...

Aim: Tracking technologies are often proposed as a method to elucidate the complex migratory life histories of migratory marine vertebrates, allowing spatially explicit threats to be identified and mitigated. We conducted a global analysis of foraging areas of adult green turtles (Chelonia mydas) subject to satellite tracking (n= 145) and the conse...

We followed the movements of 9 adult female olive ridley turtles Lepidochelys olivacea after nesting on Masirah Island, Oman, using satellite tracking. Their post-breeding migrations ranged from 85 to 796 km. Three individuals travelled north to foraging grounds in Pakistan, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The other 6 turtles remained in Omani s...

Much is still to be learned about the spatial ecology of foraging marine turtles, especially for juveniles and adult males which have received comparatively little attention. Additionally, there is a paucity of ecological information on growth rates, size and age at maturity, and sex ratios at different life stages; data vital for successful popula...

To aid management and conservation of widely distributed marine vertebrate species, it is necessary to have a knowledge and understanding of their spatial ecology. We tracked 10 adult female loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta from Masirah Island, Sultanate of Oman, which hosts one of the world's largest breeding aggregations. Transmitters were spec...

Marine turtle nesting on Syria's beaches was reported from a spot survey in 1991. Only the 12.5 km beach south of Lattakia City (35.440 N 35.895 E) was shown to have nesting at any significant level, with over 20 tracks attributed to loggerheads recorded (Kasparek 1995). A full re-survey of this beach in 2004 confirmed the presence of a small popul...

In 2004 an intensive survey of Latakia and other Syrian beaches was undertaken to improve and update knowledge of Syria's marine turtle nesting populations. The survey confirmed that loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta nest in Syria (eight nests recorded), distributed diffusely along the coast, but also identified hitherto undescribed green turtle C...

In 2006, we tracked a single Green Turtle after nesting Latakia, providing the first evidence of foraging grounds and migratory routes from this rookery which is one of the most important nesting areas in the Mediterranean. Tracking lasted 95 days during which time the turtle migrated southward (minimum average speed = 0.9 km/h) and then westward (...

The present study describes the emergence pattern of loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings (Caretta caretta) from a nesting beach in Kyparissia Bay (Greece). We try to establish the role played by hatchling biometry, nest relocation and distance from nest to the sea on this emergence pattern. We surveyed a total of 32 nests, and found long emergence per...

The population genetic structure of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting in the eastern Mediterranean was assessed by sequencing a fragment of the control region of the mitochondrial DNA (n=190) and seven microsatellites (n=112). The two types of markers revealed genetic structuring (mtDNA: γst=0.212, P<0.001; nDNA F st=0.006, P<0.00...

Approximately 99% of the documented nesting effort of the loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta, in the Mediterranean occurs in Greece (60.6%), Turkey (27.1%) and Cyprus (11.4%) (Margaritoulis et al. in press). Libya may host large numbers of nests (Laurent et al. 1997) but this has not yet been quantified by a monitoring programme. Following nesting...

Pivotal temperature (the constant temperature giving 50% of each sex) for two clutches of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) from Kyparissia Bay, Greece, was 29.3°C. Pivotal incubation duration (the time from laying to hatching giving 50% of each sex) was 52.6 days. These values are close to those obtained for this species in Brazil and the U...

Standardized ground surveys over six nesting seasons (1984–1989) along 42 km of beach at Kyparissia Bay, western Peloponnesus (Greece) revealed uneven spatial distribution in the nesting activity of the Loggerhead Turtle, Caretta caretta. Further surveys (1990–2000) at the most turtle-frequented part of the bay and the inclusion of a new beach sect...