Distribution of global sea turtle nesting explained from regional-scale coastal characteristics

Distribution of global sea turtle nesting explained from regional-scale coastal characteristics | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Distribution of global sea turtle nesting explained from regional-scale coastal characteristics Jakob C. Christiaanse, José A. A. Antolínez, Arjen P. Luijendijk, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3256402/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 07 Jan, 2024 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Climate change and human activity threaten sea turtle nesting beaches through increased flooding and erosion. Understanding the environmental characteristics that enable nesting can aid to preserve and expand these habitats. While numerous local studies exist, a comprehensive global analysis of environmental influences on the distribution of sea turtle nesting habitats remains largely unexplored. Here, we relate global sea turtle nesting distribution to 22 coastal indicators, spanning hydrodynamic, atmospheric, geophysical, habitat, and human processes. Using state-of-the-art global datasets and a novel 50-km-resolution hexagonal coastline grid (Coastgons), we employ machine learning to identify spatially homogeneous patterns in the indicators and correlate these to the occurrence of nesting grounds. Our findings suggest sea surface temperature, tidal range, extreme surges, and proximity to coral and seagrass habitats significantly influence global nesting distribution. Low tidal ranges and low extreme surges appear to be particularly favorable for individual species, likely due to reduced nest flooding. Other indicators, previously reported as influential (e.g., precipitation and wind speed), were not as important in our global-scale analysis. Finally, we identify new, potentially suitable nesting regions for each species, showing that on average 23% of global coastal regions between -37◦ and 48◦ latitude could be suitable for nesting, while only 6% is currently used by turtles. Our results help identify suitable nesting conditions, quantify potential hazards to global nesting habitats, and lay a foundation for nature-based solutions to preserve and potentially expand these habitats. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences Physical sciences/Engineering/Civil engineering Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files supplementscirepsubmissionjcc.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 07 Jan, 2024 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major revision 17 Oct, 2023 Reviews received at journal 16 Oct, 2023 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Oct, 2023 Reviews received at journal 02 Oct, 2023 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Sep, 2023 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Sep, 2023 Editor assigned by journal 22 Aug, 2023 Editor invited by journal 16 Aug, 2023 Submission checks completed at journal 16 Aug, 2023 First submitted to journal 11 Aug, 2023 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3256402","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":226123849,"identity":"3f8e3e3b-fad2-4511-baa3-554a717e4ae9","order_by":0,"name":"Jakob C. 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