Field lethal incubation temperature of olive ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys olivacea embryos at a mass nesting rookery

Abstract

Hatching success in olive ridley mass nesting arribada beaches is typically low. We conducted a short study to understand whether incubation temperature in dry months accounts for exceedingly low hatching success at Ostional Beach, Costa Rica, a mass nesting rookery. We measured in situ incubation temperatures in nests from 4 arribadas recorded in October to December 2008, and January 2009. Mean incubation temperatures for all months exceeded the upper lethal limit of 35°C, and no nests produced hatchlings when incubated at this or higher temperatures. Embryo development was inversely related to mean incubation temperature. Hatching success was low (2%) for the study period, and only 5 of 37 marked nests produced hatchlings. Mean incubation temperature for successful nests was <35°C. Since incubation temperatures of 32°C and higher recorded during the gonadal thermosensitive period were above the mean pivotal temperature of 30.5°C, the few hatchlings produced were presumably female. Incubation temperatures were significantly higher during the second and third trimesters of incubation during all months as a result of metabolic heating. However, during January to March when embryos did not develop, higher incubation temperatures of in situ nests relative to controls indicated that heating was a result of microbial activity associated with egg decomposition. Our study demonstrates that after the onset of the dry season, incubation temperatures at this beach become lethal. © Inter-Research 2010.