Dissertation Research: Population Structure of the Green Sea Turtle Chelonia mydas

这项研究的目的是确定人口结构 濒临灭绝的绿色海龟，海龟。 绿色海 众所周知海龟在浅水区觅食 牧场和冲浪筑巢的海滩 标记研究 证明雌性海龟会返回同一个海滩 在连续的筑巢季节筑巢。 这个非凡的地方 忠诚度让研究人员认为， 在它们纳塔尔的海滩筑巢。 如果绿色海龟真的回到 它们的纳塔尔海滩，那么每个栖息地应该构成一个 隔离繁殖单位 在这项研究中，线粒体DNA（mtDNA） 限制性酶切分析将用于（1）测试纳塔尔归巢 （2）界定绿色海洋的种群结构 乌龟 每窝取一个蛋， 每窝10-20窝。 由于大量的鸡蛋（约 100)和极低的鸡蛋存活率， 在自然界中，这种采样策略具有可忽略的 影响人口规模。 初步结果与纳塔尔归巢一致 假说. 该提案要求提供资金， 调查绿色海龟繁殖地， 定义主要嵌套装配。 这些数据直接关系到 关于绿色的繁殖行为和扩散的问题 海龟由于人口是人类社会的基本单位， 物种管理，结果是立即使用的保护 和管理机构。 此外，还可以使用 这项研究中产生的遗传标记，以确定起源 在加勒比海觅食的绿色海龟 和其他地方。 因此，这些发现可以大大改善 国际管理政策必须依据的数据。

The goal of this research is to define population structure of the endangered green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas. Green sea turtles are known to migrate extensively between shallow feeding pastures and surf-built nesting beaches. Tagging studies have demonstrated that female turtles return to the same beach to nest in successive nesting seasons. This remarkable site fidelity led researchers to suggest that female turtles return to nest on their natal beach. If green sea turtles do return to their natal beach, then each rookery should constitute an isolated breeding unit. In this study mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction analysis will be used to (1) test the natal homing hypothesis, and (2) define population structure of the green sea turtle. Samples are obtained by removing one egg per nest from 10-20 nests per rookery. Given the large number of eggs (about 100) per nest and the extremely low survival rate of eggs and hatching in nature, this sampling strategy has a negligible impact on population size. Preliminary results are consistent with the natal homing hypothesis. This proposal requests funding to complete a global survey of green sea turtle rookeries in order to genetically define major nesting assemblages. These data bear directly on questions about the reproductive behavior and dispersal of green sea turtles. Since populations are the fundamental units of species management, results are of immediate use to conservation and management agencies. In addition, it may be possible to use genetic markers generated in this study to identify the origin of green sea turtles harvested on feeding grounds in the Caribbean and elsewhere. Thus, the findings can substantially improve the data upon which international management policy must be based.