Grant: 18-025R
Project Title: Assessing different sea turtle nest protection measures against coyotes
Project Manager: Natalie Montero & Dr. Mariana Fuentes
Organization: Florida State University (Research and Educational Institute)
Grant Amount: $12,412.59
Completion Date: 2020-06-10
Summary: Introduced terrestrial predators, such as coyotes (Canis latranus), are a serious threat to endangered sea turtles during their earliest life stages. In Florida, depredation of nests is a major threat to the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGM) loggerhead Recovery Unit. Between 2013 to 2017, a total of 778 nests were laid at St. Joseph Peninsula State Park by loggerhead and green sea turtles with 34.7% of those being depredated by coyotes. Therefore, the overarching goal of this study is to inform future management of sea turtle nest depredation by coyotes. This will be achieved by evaluating the effectiveness of three predator deterrent techniques (self-releasing cage, plastic cage, and self-releasing screen) at the Wilderness Preserve section of SJP State Park as well as using cameras to catch depredation attempts and events. If treated nests are still being depredated, the footage can provide insights into how coyotes are getting around the treatment (e.g. self-releasing wire screen and cages) and they might need to be changed/improved to be more efficient.
Results: Depredation of sea turtle nests, where a nest is either partially or completely predated by a predator, is particularly detrimental to the reproductive output of sea turtles and consequently a concern for sea turtle conservation efforts globally. To minimize depredation of sea turtle nests, several protective strategies have been trialed against different predators. However, although information on their effectiveness exists, information on the effectiveness of strategies aiming to mitigate depredation by coyotes, which is an issue at loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta, nesting beaches in Florida and globally is inexistent. To inform future management of sea turtle nest depredation by coyotes, this study evaluated the effectiveness of three nest protection strategies (selfreleasing metal cage, self-releasing plastic cage, and self-releasing metal screen). Further, to obtain insights into coyote behavior during depredation activities and inform management strategies, we used infrared camera surveillance to monitor sea turtle nests. Self-releasing plastic cages were found to be the most effective strategy at mitigating coyote depredation on loggerhead nests. Our findings provide important information for consideration when developing depredation mitigation strategies in the region and globally. (Abstract from Lovemore et al. 2020. Assessing the effectiveness of different sea turtle nest protection strategies against coyotes. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology & Ecology 533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151470)