The impact of temperature-dependent sex determination on the population dynamics of green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas)

Abstract

The sex of the turtles is determined by the incubation temperature of the eggs during the mid-trimester of development. In green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), recent studies show that sex ratios are changing, producing a female-biased sex ratio within the population. We developed a novel continuous model to analyze the dynamics of the green sea turtle population longterm. We determine the safe operating space for the proportion of eggs that become male at which the population of green sea turtle can exist without going to extinction. When the proportion of male eggs leaves this range the overall turtles' population collapses. Additionally, we examined how temperature changes affect the sex ratios of the green sea turtle population.