Banca de DEFESA: JESSICA DE PAIVA BEZERRA

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : JESSICA DE PAIVA BEZERRA
DATE: 29/08/2025
TIME: 13:30
LOCAL: Sala Jucá/CB e Google Meet (https://meet.google.com/vdu-mrbu-xng)
TITLE:

Nesting ecology and conservation of hawksbill turtles in Northeastern Brazil

KEY WORDS:

Sea turtles, Eretmochelys imbricata, management, nest shading, climate change, sea-level rise.

PAGES: 120
BIG AREA: Ciências Biológicas
AREA: Ecologia
SUMMARY:

The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is critically endangered globally and listed as endangered in Brazil, following centuries of exploitation for its shell, meat, and eggs. The maintenance of its populations depends directly on the environmental quality of reproductive habitats, which have been increasingly affected by multiple pressures, such as unregulated coastal urbanization and the impacts of climate change. In this context, the present thesis aimed to investigate the reproductive ecology of E. imbricata and the influence of environmental, anthropogenic, and climatic factors in a nesting area along the coast of Rio Grande do Norte, as well as to evaluate an in situ thermal mitigation strategy. The research is structured into three chapters. The first chapter characterized the reproductive biology of the species over five nesting seasons (2018–2024), quantifying clutch size, hatching success, and the spatiotemporal distribution of nests. A total of 752 nests were recorded, with mean hatching success ranging from 66.7% to 80.7% and a mean clutch size of 138.2 eggs per nest. The main natural and anthropogenic threats were also analyzed, including solid waste, light pollution, and tidal flooding the latter responsible for 139 nest relocations. The spatial distribution of nests covered 37.3 hectares, including 20.33 hectares of beach zone, 10.3 hectares of non-urbanized dunes, 5.97 hectares of dunes on private properties without barriers, and 0.67 hectares in the Doce River estuary. The second chapter assessed the effectiveness of artificial shading as a thermal mitigation strategy. The experiment involved five pairs of nests (shaded and unshaded) under similar environmental conditions. Shading reduced mean nest temperature by up to 2.16°C and prolonged incubation duration by up to nine days without compromising hatching success. Phenotypic traits and hatchling locomotor performance were also evaluated. The third chapter will model the projected loss of nesting habitat based on digital elevation models and IPCC sea-level rise scenarios. The findings presented here expand the knowledge of a previously undocumented nesting site and provide valuable insights for local and regional conservation strategies, with an emphasis on adaptive management of coastal habitats.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1718346 - EDUARDO MARTINS VENTICINQUE
Interno - 1678338 - ADRIAN ANTONIO GARDA
Externo ao Programa - 1379465 - GILBERTO CORSO - UFRNExterno à Instituição - GUSTAVO MARTINEZ SOUZA - UFRGS
Externo à Instituição - VAGNER LACERDA VASQUEZ