Investigation on beach debris on the historical nesting grounds of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Hainan Island, South China
Ting Zhang,
Liu Lin,
Meimei Li,
Li Kong,
Jichao Wang,
Hai-Tao Shi
Affiliations
Ting Zhang
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China; Hainan Sansha Provincial Observation and Research Station of Sea Turtle Ecology, Sansha 573100, China
Liu Lin
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China; Hainan Sansha Provincial Observation and Research Station of Sea Turtle Ecology, Sansha 573100, China
Meimei Li
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China; Hainan Sansha Provincial Observation and Research Station of Sea Turtle Ecology, Sansha 573100, China
Li Kong
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China
Jichao Wang
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China; Hainan Sansha Provincial Observation and Research Station of Sea Turtle Ecology, Sansha 573100, China
Hai-Tao Shi
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China; Hainan Sansha Provincial Observation and Research Station of Sea Turtle Ecology, Sansha 573100, China; Corresponding author. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China.
Hainan Island used to be the most important nesting ground of green turtles in China before they disappeared about 37 years ago. Habitat degradation is one of the main reasons for the disappearance of sea turtles. Therefore, it is necessary to take action to evaluate and recover the historical nesting grounds if we hope for sea turtles to return in the future. In this study, we surveyed the beach debris on 13 historical nesting grounds of green sea turtles on Hainan Island. The beach debris on these nesting grounds mainly consisted of plastic, cigarette butts, foam, glass, and nylon, with plastic (including plastic blocks, cigarette butts, and foam) being the dominant type, accounting for 78.92% in number, followed by glass. The average density of beach debris was 0.314 pieces·m−2. Compared to other nesting grounds, the average quantity and density of beach debris in Hainan was lower, but the proportion of plastic debris was extremely high. After categorizing debris type, we found that most was from human coastal activities (35.54%), with debris at tourist beaches having the biggest proportion of debris from smoking supplies. The distribution characteristics of beach debris were related to the function of the beach, density of tourist, and the intensity of beach debris cleaning. It is recommended to further strengthen the emission reduction and clean-up of beach debris in Hainan Island, so as to restore the nesting habitat of sea turtles as soon as possible.
