Impact of accumulated beach litter on Chelonia mydas L. 1758 (green turtle) hatchlings of the Samandag coast, Hatay,Turkey
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Dosyalar
Tarih
2006
Dergi Başlığı
Dergi ISSN
Cilt Başlığı
Yayıncı
Erişim Hakkı
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
Özet
Samanda? coast, located in the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean, is specifically used by Chelonia mydas (green turtles) as nesting area. While predators, such as foxes, crabs and dogs, naturally exist in the area, human impact by means of solid waste accumulation on the shoreline helps such predators to prey on more than a quarter of emerged green turtle hatchlings (an estimated value) in the area, entrapping them during their short shoreline trips from their nests to the sea or beach litter. In this study, litter accumulation, as well as its causes and types (recyclables, and medical, hazardous or hard-to-recycle ones) and amounts of these solid wastes at the Samanda? coast are assessed, and it was found that solid waste transport to the Mediterranean Sea from various sources accumulates the litter on the beach due to influence of wind. Moreover, the beach litter was found to be one of the most important causes that impact turtle hatchlings, when they try to safely arrive to the sea. It was found that River Asi, an international river passing through Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, mainly used for all types of solid waste disposal purposes (including medical and hazardous types) by its surrounding cities, is a notable solid waste source to the shoreline. Additionally, coastal communities had disposed all kinds of wastes on the coastal zone for a long time that resulted in several heaps of waste nearby and on the shoreline. Mid summer and early autumn were chosen as sampling periods, and remarkable increase in solid waste amount in the sampling area after the first autumn rainfall event could be observed. Surprisingly, medical and hazardous wastes on the beach were found to be notably elevated, representing more than 5% of the total beach litter. The study area is highly contaminated with solid wastes on the coast, when worldwide compared to similar beaches. It was found that solid waste accumulations on beaches negatively affect green turtle hatchlings trying to reach the sea, and percentage of hatchlings reaching the sea was found to be negatively correlated with beach litter amount (r 2 = - 0.84 on 8th July 2003; and r2 = - 0.74 on 16th of September 2003). © by PSP. 2006.
Açıklama
Anahtar Kelimeler
Asi River, Beach litter, Coastal pollution, Samanda? beaches, Solid wastes
Kaynak
Fresenius Environmental Bulletin
WoS Q Değeri
Scopus Q Değeri
N/A
Cilt
15
Sayı
2
