Abstract
The shores of coral reef islands are major sites for biodiversity, but unfortunately they are also subject to strong anthropogenic disturbances. Indeed vast arrays of organisms live exclusively in these very narrow and well structured zones, many others depend on the rich and diverse micro-habitats for essential part of their life cycle (to reproduce, forage, etc.). Sea kraits are sea snakes that depend on the shore of coral islets; they forage at sea but digest, reproduce and rest on land. They have been killed in extremely large numbers in many places, causing local extinctions. In the current study we demonstrate through recapture and translocation studies that these snakes exhibit a strong and fine-scale fidelity for particular segments of the shore. Consequently, these specific areas should be under strong protection, as it the case for the breeding beaches used by marine mammals, birds or turtles.
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Acknowledgments
R. Cambag helped to set up the capture areas. S. Lorioux and M. De Crignis helped during fieldwork. We thank F. Devinck, C. Goiran and D. Ponton (DRN Province Sud, Aquarium de Nouméa, IRD). The study was carried out under permits # 6024-179/DRN/ENV and # 6024-3601/DRN/ENV.
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Brischoux, F., Bonnet, X. & Pinaud, D. Fine scale site fidelity in sea kraits: implications for conservation. Biodivers Conserv 18, 2473–2481 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-009-9602-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-009-9602-x