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For this theme assessment, I would like to design the business plan of a local Guadeloupean NGO aiming to protect sea turtles and their habitats. For this exercise, I drew my inspiration from my own experience as a volunteer for a Greek NGO named Archelon.

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Rescue and rehabilitation: sea turtles tend to get entangled in fishing gear and such incidents may often result to injuries or drowning. They may also fall victims to collisions with speed boats, especially near nesting beaches. Building a sea turtle rescue center for injured or sick animals;

Protection of nesting beaches: efforts on the beaches so that adult females can make their nests without being disturbed, so that nests remain safe during incubation and hatchlings emerge and reach the sea unobstructed;

Habitat restoration work, such as beach cleaning campaigns from plastic and litter.

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Population data

Counting the nests on the beaches, the number of hatched eggs in the egg chambers;

Organizing night patrols for tagging and identifying already tagged individuals.

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Creating information kiosks to raise public awareness;

Highlighting the threats to the sea turtles, including the removal and stacking away of sunbeds, turning lights off or reducing them to a minimum and minimal human presence on the beaches during the night.

Environmental education

Presentations in schools.

Public events

Organizing public releases of rehabilitated sea turtles back to the sea.

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Creating partnership with hotels by the sea, private beach owners, tourism centers;

Making agreement on the beach uses (removing sunbeds at night, etc...), light uses - in return, organizing animations for the hotel clients (public awareness).

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How to protect this biodiversity hotspot area and its herpetofauna?

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How to protect this biodiversity hotspot area and its herpetofauna?

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The Guadeloupean beauty and resources must be preserved and enhanced, so that future generations inherit an unspoilt territory. Moreover, the archipelago is facing multiple environmental challenges linked to global warming and the archipelago’s development. In order to respond to those challenges and prepare the future, the Guadeloupe Regional Council acts on a daily basis by implementing a proactive policy in favour of sustainable development.

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This forest, growing on fertile volcanic soil, lacks neither sun nor water (more than 3 m per year, with a high permanent humidity).

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The hygrophilous forest covers the slopes of the Basse-Terre mountains, up to 1000 m altitude, from 350 m in the Windward Coast or 500 m in the Leeward Coast.
The trees are imposing, the vines numerous and the epiphytes ubiquitous. This exuberance itself creates the main constraints: the undergrowth is dark, the debris falls a lot and the competition is high. To better capture the light, the leaves of the undergrowth are large, wrinkled or embossed, sometimes dark. Some can be cut or perforated to avoid breaking under the weight of fallen debris.
Located at high altitude, above most inhabited or easily cultivable areas, and globally protected by the National Park of Guadeloupe, this forest is today the best preserved area of the archipelago, but also the largest (about 24,000 ha - source: ONF Guadeloupe, 2019).

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Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests

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Located in the West Indies, Guadeloupe is a Caribbean island and is also part of the French Overseas Departments and Territories (DOM-TOM).
This island represents a land area of 1 628 km² and an estimated population of 400 132 (data from 2015). It is also the largest and most populous European Union territory in North America.

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Despite its small size, Guadeloupe island is a biodiversity well, with various landscapes and outstanding coastal areas.

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The Caribbean islands supports an important biodiversity within its diverse terrestrial ecosystems with a high proportion of endemicity making the region one of the world’s greatest centers of biodiversity (source: European Commission report, 2010).

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eu outermost regions and overseas countries and territories

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BEST Initiative - Nature & Biodiversity - Environment - European Commission

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The Caribbean’s biodiversity is at serious risk of species extinctions. More than 700 species are globally threatened making it one of the top hotspots assessed by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) for globally threatened species. The world database on protected areas lists some 749 protected areas in the region covering 67,719 km² with more than half being marine. Unfortunately on many islands, protected area management is still weak and inadequately funded (source: European Commission report, 2010).

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The main threats to the terrestrial biodiversity of the insular Caribbean are habitat destruction and fragmentation due to agricultural, urban, tourism and commercial development; overexploitation of living resources and predation by invasive alien species. For the marine environment, pollution is also considered a major threat. Moreover, climate change is viewed as an increasingly significant threat.

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The Guadeloupean mangroves, an interface between marine and terrestrial environments

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Mangroves colonize the flood-prone coastline protected from the swell. In Guadeloupe, these forests are found in the plains of the two sea-cackles, the estuaries of the big rivers and some sea fronts and back beaches that punctuate the coast of the whole archipelago.
Flooded environments are bathed in sunshine and, by definition, water. Some soils, usually peaty or muddy, are very fertile. If these environments can be rich, it is difficult for plants to breathe and stand on soft soils saturated with water or salt. Depending on the species, the trees thus spread stilt roots or buttresses to be more stable, their aerial roots allow them to breathe in the open air and the salt can be filtered by the roots or excreted by the leaves.
Although partially cleared for agriculture, industry or urbanization, the mangroves and swamp forests of Guadeloupe are still the largest in the Lesser Antilles and cover about 5,000 ha. These forests have long been poorly considered, victims of backfilling, dumping garbage or pollution. Yet they play a vital role in protecting the marine and terrestrial coastline (source: ONF Guadeloupe, 2019).

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Iguana delicatissima is an endemic species of the Lesser Antilles. It is classified in danger on the IUCN Red List. The introduction of the common iguana (Iguana iguana), native to South America and with which it can hybridize, poses a great threat to the species. The Common Iguana is easily distinguished from the Lesser Antillean Iguana by the presence of stripes on the tail and a large scale beneath the tympanum. The Desirade Nature Reserves co-managed by the NFB and the Tité Association emphasize its protection.

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Eleutherodactylus pinchoni is a small frog: males measure 14.4–16.0 mm and females 15.2–20.2 mm. Dorsal coloration is rich, dark wood brown, with variable patterning displaying four basic types. The most common pattern is a pair of relatively broad dorsal chevrons and—usually—a diagonal flank bar from each end of the second chevron into the groin. The ventrum is orange, but this color may be almost completely obscured by overlying dark brown mottling, blotches, or stipples.
Natural habitats of Eleutherodactylus pinchoni are mesic forests and rainforests at elevations of 0–1,250 m. It is a terrestrial frog. Males call from the ground or low vegetation, and the eggs are laid on the ground and on bromeliads.

Forest habitat suitable for Eleutherodactylus pinchoni is small in area and continues to decline in quality. It is also threatened by pollution from pesticides used in banana plantations, introduced predators (particularly rats, cats and mongooses), and the introduced frog Eleutherodactylus johnstonei that appears to be displacing it.

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The reef ecosystem has a richness and complexity unique in the marine environment.

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Coral reefs form a barrier reef in the "Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin" which is one of the largest in the Lesser Antilles. The coral reef creates a real barrier reef between Sainte-Rose and Port-Louis, that faces the onslaught of waves offshore. In the lagoons or bays with calm waters thus constituted, seagrass meadows develop.
Coral reefs are limestone buildings found in the tropics. They have the particularity of being built by living organisms, mainly corals. The calcareous skeletons of these animals remain in place after their death, are welded together and eventually accumulate over tens of meters thick. This structure remains very porous and pierced with a multitude of cavities of all sizes that provide shelter for a particularly rich and abundant fauna. In fact, very few animals feed directly on corals. These play within the reefs a role comparable to that of trees in a forest, ie infrastructure and shelter for other organisms in the ecosystem.

The reef ecosystem has a richness and complexity unique in the marine environment and can be compared on these plans only with the great Amazonian forest. In addition, it is of considerable economic importance, since most of the coastal fishery product in the intertropical zone is derived from coral reefs.

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The French Caribbean is rich in 5 species of sea turtles that have distinct morphological characters and habits. Chelonia mydas is one of them. During the breeding season, green turtles stay at sea in their feeding area, feed under water and regularly go up to breathe. Sexual maturity is reached between 8 and 15 years old. From this age, adult green turtles migrate every 2-3 years to their breeding area around March to October in Guadeloupe. After mating in the sea, the females lay their eggs on generally wide beaches, with a large thickness of sand and lined with vegetation. They are very faithful to their nesting site. The green turtle is listed as Endangered by IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature). There are many threats to the species: disturbance due to overcrowding of spawning or feeding sites, incidental fishing-related catches, poaching (egg harvesting or hunting, this is strictly illegal), destruction of sites feeding (destruction of seagrass beds by anchors, pesticides ...), destruction of nesting sites (rip rap of beaches, destruction of vegetation along the beaches, bulldozing on beaches where there are nests, artificial lighting that disorients young people trying to reach the sea ...) (source: Reseau Tortues Marines Guadeloupe FWI, 2019).

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Biodiversity Response to Climate Change in the Middle Pleistocene

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This book chronicles the discovery and analysis of animal fossils found in one of the most important paleontological sites in the world-Porcupine Cave, located at an elevation of 9,500 feet in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

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Assess the problem: describe the possible effects of climate change on organisms

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Assess the problem: describe the possible effects of climate change on organisms

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1. They became extinct;

2. They moved to warmer areas for food;

3. They developed thick insulations (i.e. furs, extra layers of fat, etc.);

4. They moved to warmer ecosystems (i.e. lowland areas, in forests etc.);

5. They coped with their new environment remaining where they were.

The effect of climate change on organisms in Europe is a combination of all the previous first 4 options (1-4) but it is mainly driven by the second one.

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Eleutherodactylus barlagnei is a species of frog from the Eleutherodactylidae family and is endemic to Guadeloupe (Basse-Terre Island). It is an aquatic frog that lives in both large and small streams. It prefers boulders in reasonably fast-moving waters. It usually occurs in rainforests but can also found in grassy savannas and in disturbed habitats where trees are present. Its altitudinal range is 0–1,400 m. The eggs are laid on vegetation and in rock crevices.

Eleutherodactylus barlagnei are moderately common in suitable habitat, but such stream habitats are limited in extend and continue to decline in quality. The species is also threatened by pollution from pesticides used in banana plantations and domestically. It might also be threatened by introduced predators (rats, cats and mongooses), the introduced frog Eleutherodactylus johnstonei, and chytridiomycosis. It is listed as Endangered by IUCN.

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Iguana delicatissima is an endemic species of the Lesser Antilles. It is classified in danger on the IUCN Red List. The introduction of the common iguana (Iguana iguana), native to South America and with which it can hybridize, poses a great threat to the species. The Common Iguana is easily distinguished from the Lesser Antillean Iguana by the presence of stripes on the tail and a large scale beneath the tympanum. The Desirade Nature Reserves co-managed by the NFB and the Tité Association emphasize its protection.

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Iguana Delicatissima Conservation on the Caribbean eiland of St. Eustatius (Statia)

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Alsophis antillensis is a species of snake found in the Caribbean, on the Lesser Antilles islands of Montserrat, Dominica, and Guadeloupe. It can reach nearly a meter in length. It feeds on lizards and small rodents. It rarely bites humans, but may release a foul-smelling (though harmless) cloacal secretion when disturbed. It has a brown ground color, with lighter brown or white splotches that may alternate to form a zig-zag pattern.

This species is critically endangered. There are now only about 350 specimens in the world. Destroyed by deforestation, farmers, invasive mongooses and by many people simply because fear of snakes. It is protected today.

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Anolis terraealtae is a species of anole lizard, endemic to the Îles des Saintes, islands in Guadeloupe in the Caribbean.
It was formerly described as a subspecies of A. marmoratus.

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Mabuya cochonae

Mabuya is a genus of long-tailed skinks restricted to species from various Caribbean islands. They are primarily carnivorous, though many are omnivorous. The genus is viviparous, having a highly evolved placenta that resembles that of eutherian mammals. Formerly, many Old World species were placed here, as Mabuya was a kind of "wastebasket taxon". These Old World species are now placed in the genera Chioninia, Eutropis, and Trachylepis. Under the older classification, the New World species were referred to as "American mabuyas", and now include the genera Alinea, Aspronema, Brasiliscincus, Capitellum, Marisora, Varzea, and Copeoglossum.

The ancestors of the genus are believed to have rafted across the Atlantic from Africa during the last 9 million years

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Sphaerodactylus phyzacinus  is a small species of gecko endemic to Guadeloupe.

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Typhlops guadeloupensis is a species of blind snake which is endemic to Guadeloupe. It is fairly widespread on the main islands of Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre, but is not recorded on the other Guadeloupean islands.

The Typhlops of Guadeloupe (Typhlops guadeloupensis) is a small blind snake which looks more like an earthworm and which spends its life in the soil. It remains difficult to observe and is therefore still little known.

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Eleutherodactylus pinchoni is a small frog: males measure 14.4–16.0 mm and females 15.2–20.2 mm. Dorsal coloration is rich, dark wood brown, with variable patterning displaying four basic types. The most common pattern is a pair of relatively broad dorsal chevrons and—usually—a diagonal flank bar from each end of the second chevron into the groin. The ventrum is orange, but this color may be almost completely obscured by overlying dark brown mottling, blotches, or stipples.
Natural habitats of Eleutherodactylus pinchoni are mesic forests and rainforests at elevations of 0–1,250 m. It is a terrestrial frog. Males call from the ground or low vegetation, and the eggs are laid on the ground and on bromeliads.

Forest habitat suitable for Eleutherodactylus pinchoni is small in area and continues to decline in quality. It is also threatened by pollution from pesticides used in banana plantations, introduced predators (particularly rats, cats and mongooses), and the introduced frog Eleutherodactylus johnstonei that appears to be displacing it.

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Chelonia mydas

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Eleutherodactylus pinchoni

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Size: varies from 1 to 1,5m

Weight: 100 to 150kg (max 400kg)

Food: seagrass beds

Habitat: shallow coastal (less than 100m)

Status: frequent at sea and rare breams (around 100 per year)

Spawning beach: Generally broad with a large thickness of sand and lined with vegetation

Spawning season: May to October

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Common name: Hylode de Pinchon Scientific name: Eleutherodactylus pinchoni
Creole name: Grounouy
Size: 14-20mm
Distribution: Basse-Terre
Food: small insects
Habitat: humid forests and high-altitude savannas
Physical characteristics: internal skeleton, 4 fingers in hand, dark color and groin oranges. The Pinchon hylode is the smallest hylod species in the Guadeloupe archipelago.

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Distribution

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Green turtles are ectothermic reptiles with a pulmonary respiratory system, which corresponded to a complete adaptation to terrestrial life. But they completely adapt their organism to underwater life:

in addition to the kidneys, glands near their eyes are able to expel excess of salt from their bloodstream;

their metabolism is able to withstand high concentrations of CO₂ during deep dives. They can extract 35 to 52% of the oxygen from their breathings;

their eyes are protected by three eyelids;

their hearing is particularly fine even if they have no external ears, but an inner ear under a hearing plate;

On the other hand, their sense of smell is rather inefficient. Green turtles have only one excretory orifice, which is also used for breeding.

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Their flattened shells give them better hydrodynamic characteristics and play an obvious protective role, but some scientists think they allow them to store heat. This adaptation, acquired after their return to the marine environment, allows them to descend very deeply, where water temperatures are low. In return, they lost their ability to retract their limbs. As for other aquatic turtles, their carapaces are lighter because they have fontanelles. Like other turtles, they do not moult and experience partial superficial exfoliation of the skeletal plates.

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During mating, the male clings by its two anterior claws (which are therefore secondary sexual characteristics) to the female's carapace. Females lay only at their place of birth, a few meters or hundreds of meters near depending on the species. It is usually in favor of the night, at dusk, often during the rising tide that females go out to lay on their original sandy beach.

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Females can retain male sperm for months or years in a fold of their oviduct. The female can store spermatozoa to fertilize successive clutches.

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The sex of the young depends on the temperature during the incubation of eggs: males for the low temperature range, females for the high range. Due to global warming, a decrease in the proportion of males has been observed for some years.

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For mating, males call from the ground or low vegetation. The eggs are then laid on the ground and on bromeliads. Females lay their eggs directly on the ground in the shade of a stone or vegetation. The "tadpole phase" does not exist, and two weeks later mini-frogs of about 5 mm are born. They have enough food reserves to hold a week before going hunting.

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The hylodes are best known for their familiar croaking which animates Caribbean nights or rainy days. They correspond to the mating calls of the males and the songs of defense of the territory.

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Nesting beaches for sea turtles are now invaded by tourists.

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Organochlorine pollution in Guadeloupean rivers affecting amphibian populations: Intensive agricultural or industrial use of persistent pollutants, such as organochlorine (OC) pesticides, has led to a widespread contamination of the environment. Since their introduction in the 1950s in Guadeloupe (Caribbean), OC pesticides have been extensively used on agricultural lands. Though they were banned from usage in the 1990s, these toxic and persistent molecules are still highly present in soils, especially in the most cultivated areas.

Contamination of marine fauna by chlordecone in Guadeloupe and Martinique: Chlordecone is an organochlorine pesticide, used in the Lesser Antilles from 1972 to 1993 to fight against a banana weevil. This molecule is very persistent in the natural environment and ends up in the sea with runoff waters.

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Organochlorine pollution in tropical rivers (Guadeloupe): Role of ecological factors in food web bioaccumulation

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Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides and stable isotope ratios of nitrogen and carbon were measured in a tropical freshwater ecosystem to evalu...

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Habitat degradation and plastic pollution

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Loss of the marine habitat by bottom trawling

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Over-exploitation of marine turtles in legal fisheries and through illegal harvest and trade poses a major threat to the survival of marine turtles across the Wider Caribbean Region, according to a new report launched today by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

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Coral bleaching as an indicator of climate change

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Coral bleaching as an indicator of climate change

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Just as land temperatures are increasing, water temperatures are too. Warming temperatures are also considered one of the primary factors causing the massive coral bleaching events experienced within the Caribbean’s waters.

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Hurricane intensification in the Caribbean

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Hurricane intensification in the Caribbean

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Tropical Storm Isaac Marches Towards the Caribbean | The Weather Channel

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Meteorologist Danielle Banks looks at the forecast for Isaac.

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Guadeloupe Islands: An Ecotourism Paradise | US Media

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Guadeloupe is an Ecotourism Paradise and a Unique Caribbean Ecosystem

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The Agoa sanctuary

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Recent evidence from field and laboratory studies has implicated infection by a digenetic trematode – Ribeiroia ondatrae – as an important cause of deformities in amphibian species. Ribeiroia spp. have a complex life cycle involving planorbid snails, amphibians and water birds. Under natural conditions, malformations might promote parasite transmission by increasing the susceptibility of infected amphibians to predation by definitive hosts. However, with respect to the recent outbreak of deformities, it has been suggested that exogenous agents (e.g. pesticides, nutrient run-off, introduced fishes) might be interacting with Ribeiroia, resulting in elevated infection levels.

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Amphibian deformities and Ribeiroia infection: an emerging helminthiasis

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Climate change and rise of infectious diseases

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Climate change and rise of infectious diseases

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Eleutherodactylus johnstonei is an amphibian species which has great adaptability skills. This frog is found mainly in degraded areas but also in homes and in less disturbed forests. It is a colonizing species that competes for habitats with native amphibians.

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Trachemys scripta elegans is a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is unfortunately the most popular pet turtle in the world. It has therefore become the most commonly traded turtle in the world. It is native to the southern United States and northern Mexico, but has become established in other places because of pet releases and has become an invasive species in many areas where it outcompetes native species. The red-eared slider is included in the list of the world's 100 most invasive species published by the IUCN.

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Its arrival in Guadeloupe dates from the 1960s and it is now the main threat to the Lesser Antilles iguana. Iguana Iguana would have arrived with sailors who used it as a source of food. It is now in direct competition with Iguana delicatissima and the hybridization phenomena are also at the origin of a progressive genetic dilution and a disappearance of the genetic inheritance which is specific of the endemic iguana.

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Introduced amphibians and reptiles in the greater Caribbean: Patterns and conservation implications

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Introduced amphibians and reptiles in the greater Caribbean: Patterns and conservation implications

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Design the business plan of a local voluntary organisation which aims to protect the local herpetofauna

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Design the business plan of a local voluntary organisation which aims to protect the local herpetofauna

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Get people involved in environmental and conservation projects.

"Team work makes the dream works"

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Using social media.

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My personal findings for the group 3 report

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My personal findings for the group 3 report

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"How, if at all, might international pet trade damage the herpetofauna of your HerpetoArea? Consider in this context illegal collections, invasive species and diseases."

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Link to the padlet for the group 3 work assignement

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Link to the padlet for the group 3 work assignement