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Estimates of sex- and age-class-specific survival probabilities for a southern Great Barrier Reef green sea turtle population

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Abstract

Sex- and age-class-specific survival probabilities of a southern Great Barrier Reef green sea turtle population were estimated using a capture–mark–recapture (CMR) study and a Cormack–Jolly–Seber (CJS) modelling approach. The CMR history profiles for 954 individual turtles tagged over a 9-year period (1984–1992) were classified into three age classes (adult, subadult, juvenile) based on somatic growth and reproductive traits. Reduced-parameter CJS models, accounting for constant survival and time-specific recapture, fitted best for all age classes. There were no significant sex-specific differences in either survival or recapture probabilities for any age class. Mean annual adult survival was estimated at 0.9482 (95% CI: 0.92–0.98) and was significantly higher than survival for either subadults or juveniles. Mean annual subadult survival was 0.8474 (95% CI: 0.79–0.91), which was not significantly different from mean annual juvenile survival estimated at 0.8804 (95% CI: 0.84–0.93). The time-specific adult recapture probabilities were a function of sampling effort but this was not the case for either juveniles or subadults. The sampling effort effect was accounted for explicitly in the estimation of adult survival and recapture probabilities. These are the first comprehensive sex- and age-class-specific survival and recapture probability estimates for a green sea turtle population derived from a long-term CMR program.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded in part by grants from the Australian Nature Conservation Agency, Australian Department of Science (Marine Science and Technology), and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Field assistance was provided by S. Allen, D. Walter, A. Fleay, P. Reed, E. Gyuris, D. Reimer, and numerous volunteer assistants. We thank R. Cormack for providing GLIM code and statistical advise on capture–recapture modelling. We also thank G. Balazs, K. Bjorndal, A. Bolten, G. Grigg, and J. Parmenter for helpful comments on the manuscript.

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  1. Ecological Modelling Services Pty Ltd, University of Queensland, PO Box 6150, St Lucia, QLD, 4067, Australia

    Milani Chaloupka

  2. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, PO Box 155, Brisbane Albert Street, QLD, 4002, Australia

    Colin Limpus

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  1. Milani Chaloupka
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  2. Colin Limpus
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Correspondence to Milani Chaloupka.

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Communicated by M.S. Johnson, Crawley

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Chaloupka, M., Limpus, C. Estimates of sex- and age-class-specific survival probabilities for a southern Great Barrier Reef green sea turtle population. Marine Biology 146, 1251–1261 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1512-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1512-6

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