First publication to describe regional flatback turtle populations in Western Australia
Published in February 2014 in the international journal Endangered Species Research, the recent publication by Pendoley Environmental is the first comprehensive study to describe and define the reproductive biology of the endemic flatback turtle (Natator depressus) in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The nesting turtle populations described in the publication comprise the vast majority of what is currently defined as the ‘North West Shelf Management Unit’, understood to be a discrete genetic stock of flatback turtles, that is, it is not genetically linked to other populations of flatback turtles in Australia.
Until now, publicly available information on this population, from a species described as ‘data deficient' by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), was lacking. Based on a robust and long-term dataset, the publication compiles findings of the Barrow Island and Mundabullangana flatback turtle monitoring programs currently in their tenth season of consistent monitoring.
Globally renowned for their scale and duration, these programs are a leading example of environmental monitoring within the Australian resources industry. Also included are the results of a three-year assessment of the flatback rookery at Cemetery beach, located in Port Hedland, and together these findings provide much needed and long awaited publicly available information.
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