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CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Spatial distribution of fibropapillomatosis in green turtles along the Queensland coast and an investigation into the influence of water quality on prevalence
Conservation science and practice, Vol.4(8), 12755
2022
Abstract
Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a tumor-forming disease which affects all species of marine turtle, but predominantly the green turtle (Chelonia mydas). Expression of this disease is thought to be precipitated by poor environmental conditions and often linked to anthropogenically induced environmental changes. Although FP is a globally distributed disease, targeted studies on the spatial distribution of the disease in Australia are limited. Here, we present the first comprehensive report of FP prevalence in Queensland, Australia. A retrospective analysis of 25,645 capture records for 15 sites along the Queensland coast were used to determine FP prevalence and trends in foraging green turtles. Within this data set, 791 turtles (3.1%) with FP tumors were recorded. Our analysis showed that prevalence varies between sites and years, with juvenile turtles being the most frequently affected by the disease. We found that survey method has a significant influence on the apparent FP prevalence detected at each site. That is, surveys which were explicitly FP-targeted detected higher numbers of individual turtles with FP, and therefore generated higher prevalence rates than comprehensive population surveys. We also report the first attempt at developing water quality indices (WQIs) to compare with FP prevalence data in foraging green turtles. The WQIs were built from metrics published in a range of peer-reviewed papers, reports, and based on expert opinion. Despite utilizing an extensive data set, a relationship between FP prevalence and WQI rankings at each site could not be quantified. The analysis was confounded by a range of limitations, including data gaps, varying temporal scales and data capture methods in the FP prevalence, and water quality data sets. This study has significant implications for management as it highlights the benefits of designing and collecting centralized data that can be integrated and used across multiple projects or programs.
Details
- Title
- Spatial distribution of fibropapillomatosis in green turtles along the Queensland coast and an investigation into the influence of water quality on prevalence
- Authors/Creators
- Karina Jones - James Cook Univ, Coll Publ Hlth Med & Vet Sci, Townsville, Qld, AustraliaColin J. Limpus - Queensland Department of Environment and ScienceJon Brodie - ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesRhondda Jones - Australian Institute of Tropical Health and MedicineMark Read - Great Barrier Reef Marine Park AuthorityEdith Shum - James Cook UniversityIan P. Bell - Queensland Department of Environment and ScienceEllen Ariel - James Cook University
- Publication Details
- Conservation science and practice, Vol.4(8), 12755
- Publisher
- Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.
- Number of pages
- 15
- Grant note
- World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
- Identifiers
- 991005759433907891
- Copyright
- © 2022 The Authors.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Murdoch University
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Citation topics
- 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
- 3.35 Zoology & Animal Ecology
- 3.35.683 Reptile Ecology
- Web Of Science research areas
- Biodiversity Conservation
- ESI research areas
- Agricultural Sciences