Regional management units for marine turtles: a novel framework for prioritizing conservation and research across multiple scales.
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.


RESULTS
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
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.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group-Burning Issues Working Group, Arlington, Virginia, United States of America. b.wallace@conservation.org
Bryan P
BP
Wallace
Andrew D
AD
DiMatteo
Brendan J
BJ
Hurley
Elena M
EM
Finkbeiner
Alan B
AB
Bolten
Milani Y
MY
Chaloupka
Brian J
BJ
Hutchinson
F Alberto
FA
Abreu-Grobois
Diego
D
Amorocho
Karen A
KA
Bjorndal
Jerome
J
Bourjea
Brian W
BW
Bowen
Raquel Briseño
RB
Dueñas
Paolo
P
Casale
B C
BC
Choudhury
Alice
A
Costa
Peter H
PH
Dutton
Alejandro
A
Fallabrino
Alexandre
A
Girard
Marc
M
Girondot
Matthew H
MH
Godfrey
Mark
M
Hamann
Milagros
M
López-Mendilaharsu
Maria Angela
MA
Marcovaldi
Jeanne A
JA
Mortimer
John A
JA
Musick
Ronel
R
Nel
Nicolas J
NJ
Pilcher
Jeffrey A
JA
Seminoff
Sebastian
S
Troëng
Blair
B
Witherington
Roderic B
RB
Mast
D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005843:Geography; D006802:Human Activities; D006801:Humans; D008386:Marine Biology; D008957:Models, Genetic; D013686:Telemetry / Q000379:methods; D014426:Turtles / Q000235:genetics*
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