Global trends in sea turtle research and conservation: Using symposium abstracts to assess past biases and future opportunities

Abstract

We quantified research trends in the field of sea turtle science by collating data from 30 years of abstracts presented annually at the International Sea Turtle Symposium – the largest scientific symposia focusing exclusively on sea turtles. From the analysis of 7370 abstracts, we revealed five key findings: (1) loggerhead and green turtles were studied more than any other species; (2) the most and least studied Regional Management Units (RMUs) were typically those in the North Atlantic and Indian Ocean respectively; (3) almost half of all sea turtle studies had been conducted on nesting beaches, likely leaving juveniles and adult males extensively understudied; (4) the most studied threat to sea turtles was fisheries bycatch although the proportion of studies on climate change had increased rapidly since 2006; and (5) mark-recapture was the most utilized method for studying sea turtles but its use dropped proportionately alongside an increase in more modern tools such as satellite telemetry, stable isotope analysis, and genetics. We conclude that long-standing biases exist in sea turtle science, leading to many regions, habitats, and life-stages being chronically understudied. While trends suggest that some of these biases are slowly being addressed, efforts are still required to ensure that future studies are focused efficiently on areas with the greatest conservation needs or on topics with the potential to fill the largest knowledge gaps.