Marine Debris and Human Impacts on Sea Turtles in Southern Brazil

The role of community involvement and number/type of visitors on tourism impacts: A controlled comparison of Annapurna, Nepal and Northwest Yunnan, China

The South American region
The marine areas of the South American continent extend for almost 30,000 km of coastline and encompass three different oceanic domains—the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the Atlantic. The latitudinal and longitudinal ranges within this region are similarly wide, from 12°N to 55°S, and from 34° to 81°W. Ten countries border on these coasts, each with different research capabilities and taxonomic traditions; therefore, taxonomic knowledge differs among countries. Coastal biodiversity is strongly influenced by the physical and geological history of these coasts. The eastern tropical Pacific region, which encompasses the continental coasts of southern Central America (Costa Rica and Panama) and of northwestern South America (Colombia and Ecuador) is characterized by cliffs alternating with pocket beaches, alluvial and deltaic plains with extensive sandy beaches, well-developed mangrove forests, estuaries, lagoons, and, reefs. It also includes important offshore island systems such as the Pearl and Galapagos islands [1], [2]. The Peruvian coast also is diverse with bays, cliffs, kelp and macroalgal beds, rocky shores and sandy beaches, islands, and peninsulas, as well as wetlands, which include the southernmost limit to the tropical Pacific mangrove ecosystem [3], [4]. The Chilean coast is 4,500 km of mainly rocky shores, but does include some sandy-beach bays with channels and archipelagos toward the south (Patagonian region) [5], [6]. Some of the most diverse ecosystems in Chile are the beds of kelp (Lessonia and Macrosystis) and macroalgae (Gracillaria and Ulva). The combination of the unique oceanographic conditions and coastal heterogeneity in the Chilean coast has resulted in high levels of endemism (near 40%) in many invertebrate groups [5], and several marine invertebrate taxa show latitudinal biodiversity patterns, some of them explained by the presence of Antarctic fauna [7]–[9]. Ecuador, Peru, and Chile are under the influence of the Humboldt upwelling system and subject to high environmental variability caused by the ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) and LNSO (La Nina Southern Oscillation), which cause important changes in community composition and abundance, particularly of the plankton [1], [10].

The Atlantic coast of the South American continent is distinctly different from the Pacific coast. It includes three major rivers (Orinoco, Amazon, and La Plata), which discharge enormous amounts of freshwater and sediment to the ocean, and the coast has an extensive continental platform. Argentina's coast has mostly sandy beaches [6], [11] and some rocky formations located mainly at Mar del Plata and at Peninsula Valdes. At Mar del Plata, these rocky shores are dominated by two mussel species and by a diverse macroalgal community with a clear tidal zonation [12], [13]. The Uruguayan coast is dominated by sandy beaches with a narrow portion of rocky habitats known to sustain a rich biological diversity [14]. Observed variations in community composition and distribution may be related to the salinity gradient caused by La Plata River discharge [15].

The coast of Brazil, extending almost 7,500 km, is under the influence of the warm Brazil Current, the cold Malvinas/Falklands Current, and many rivers and upwelling regions [16]. The warm northern coast, where the Amazon discharges into the ocean, is characterized by a combination of freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems, with diverse but poorly known habitats [17]. The colder southern coast is characterized by a variety of ecosystems, including mangrove forests, seagrass beds, coral reefs, sandy beaches, rocky shores, lagoons, and estuaries. Because of its vastness, extensive areas of Brazil's coast remain unexplored. North of Brazil are Suriname, French Guiana, Guyana, and the Venezuelan Atlantic Front. This area, including about 1,900 km of coastline, is under the strong influence of the Amazon River. Therefore, the typical ecosystems are estuaries, mudflats, sandy beaches, and mangrove forests, which extend along most of the coastline [18]. The Venezuelan Atlantic coast is also under the influence of the Orinoco River, with coastal mudflats and extensive mangrove forests [19].

In this paper, we analyze the status of knowledge of marine biodiversity in five subregions along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America. As most of the information is based in national reports, these subregions were based in the Large Marine Ecosystem boundaries as defined for South America, with a few practical adaptations, based in country political borders. The paper also provides an updated review of ecosystem threats, such as invasive species, and the marine conservation strategies employed by South American countries with access to the coast, excluding the Caribbean coasts of Venezuela and Colombia, as these are included in another paper of this collection [20].

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Marine biodiversity in the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America: knowledge and gaps.

Nesting of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) at Ascension Island, South Atlantic

This paper discusses generally why humans should bother to conservesea turtles. In doing so, it considers both economic and non-economic reasonsand outlines threats to the existence of sea turtles and ways in which tourismmay either contribute to the conservation or decline of their populations.Turtle-based ecotourism at Mon Repos in southern Queensland is described. As aresult of a survey conducted by the authors, it is shown that turtle-basedecotourism at Mon Repos has positive social (indirect) consequences for theconservation of sea turtles. Furthermore, it is argued that ecotourismoperations at Mon Repos have positive direct impacts on the sustainability ofpopulations of sea turtles. However, using a simple model, it is emphasised thatthis impact is limited because turtles are migratory. A model is also developedto capture the possible relationship between turtle populations and thesustainability of ecotourism dependent on turtle populations, and is extended toother wildlife species. Significant interdependence exists between thesustainability of these two variables. The theory is related toCiriacy-Wantrup's social safe minimum conservation standard forspecies' survival.

Ecotourism for the survival of sea turtles and other wildlife

Marine turtles of Brazil:the history and structure of Projeto TAMAR-IBAMA

In the 35 years since its inception, the Brazilian National Program for the Conservation of Marine Turtles (TAMAR) has had great success in protecting the five species of sea turtles that occur in Brazil. It has also contributed significantly to worldwide scientific data and knowledge about these species’ biology, such as life cycles and migration patterns. TAMAR’s conservation strategies have always relied on a variety of environmental education and social inclusion (EESI) activities highly adapted to the socio-environmental evolving contexts of its 25 locations distributed across nine states. Diversity and flexibility are critical to enable timely and effective local responses to existing or potential threats to sea turtles. The intuitive, locally adapted, decentralized, and independent way EESI activities have been carried out have generated positive results in the resolution of specific and evolving local problems through the course of the project. This article brings EESI under the same conceptual framework that underlies its conservation approach by adopting an adaptive threat management framework to organize and qualify its educational and social inclusion interventions according to the main categories of threat addressed by TAMAR.

Guy Guagni dei Marcovaldi

Papers

Marine turtles of Brazil:the history and structure of Projeto TAMAR-IBAMA

Adaptive threat management framework: integrating people and turtles