Density-dependent effects on hatching success of the olive ridley turtle, Lepidochelys olivacea

Historically, the olive ridley arribada at Playa Nancite, Costa Rica, was one of the largest olive ridley arribadas in the eastern Pacific with 70,000 nesting females in a year. Recently the Nancite arribada drastically declined. We hypothesized that the population decline at Playa Nancite could have been due to low hatching success as a result of the high density of nests on the beach, such that recruitment to the population was insufficient to balance losses. To test this hypothesis, we examined density-dependent effects on hatching success and their underlying mechanisms by experimentally manipulating nest densities in experimental plots on the nesting beach. We set up four nest-density treatments in five experimental blocks. We measured effects of density on hatching success, CO(2) and O(2) concentrations and temperature both within nests and in sand adjacent to nests frequently during incubation. Experimental nest densities affected hatching success with the highest density having the lowest hatching success. Higher nest density led to lower O(2) levels and higher CO(2) levels in the nest with greater changes in the latter part of the incubation. Highest temperatures occurred in high-density areas. Temperatures were lower in sand surrounding the nest than in the nest. Effects of density on temperature, CO(2) and O(2) were confirmed at a naturally high-density nesting beach, Playa La Flor, Nicaragua. Long-term failure in production of hatchlings due to historic high densities may have contributed to the decline of arribadas on Playa Nancite. Thus, density-dependent population control would have operated at the embryonic life stage in this population of olive ridley turtles.