A Seychelles researcher makes waves in the fight to save endangered turtles and tortoises https://ift.tt/RiGCEn7 By developing and adapting a microscopy-based method for bird science, Seychelles-born PhD student Alessia Lavigne is advancing our understanding of reproductive failure in our country’s turtle and tortoise populations. More than half of the world’s turtles and tortoises are threatened with extinction. Understanding why some eggs fail to hatch is an important step in the race to protect them, but until recently the lack of reliable methods at the microscopic level has hindered this. Seychelles researcher Alessia Lavigne has successfully developed a microscopy-based technique that can provide conclusive evidence of egg fertilization and provide important insights into the underlying causes of reproductive failure in endangered populations. A Hawksbill turtle hides in the shade as it prepares to lay its eggs under tree trunks on D’Arros Island, Seychelles. Photo © Dan Beecham 2024 was a truly full-circle moment for Seychelles explorer Alessia Lavigne. “It’s been exactly 10 years since I was a young student and won a competition to participate in the Save Our Seas Foundation marine education program in D’Arros,” he smiles. “And ten years later, it’s still surreal to me that I’m one of the people teaching young students who are new to the D’Arros Experience.” Alessia returned to D’Arros Island to collect more specimens for her research, which seeks to understand early reproductive failure in turtles and tortoises. He has spent the past few years collecting and analyzing the immature eggs of three species found in the Seychelles: the loggerhead sea turtle, the green sea turtle and the iconic Aldabra turtle. But the idea of the project started long before that. “After passing my A-levels, I managed to get my first job working with sea turtles and terrapins in the Seychelles. We would go to the sea turtle’s nest and check to see if everything had hatched. And I was there for the first time – what happened? The unhatched eggs contained only the yolk. I was told they were not fertilized. “But how do we know that?” I would think so.’ Depending on the species of sea turtle, one clutch can contain 110 to 160 eggs. Photo © James Lee Part of the problem, he notes, is that methods for evaluating hatching disorders rely on the visible, despite the fact that development can occur at the microscopic level. “It turned out to be a huge knowledge gap,” says Alessia. “But I was in a happy situation, and I thought, ‘Can we try to avoid this gap any longer?’ The opportunity to fill this gap came when Alessia was completing an integrated MSc in Zoology at the University of Sheffield. It was here that she met her future PhD, Dr. Nicola Hemmings, who introduced Alessia to a laboratory technique used to understand the reproductive abilities of birds. This microscopic technique involves applying a special dye to samples of undeveloped eggs. The dye binds to the DNA and stains all the embryonic cells in the sample blue, allowing scientists to distinguish between fertilized and unfertilized eggs. This will help you better understand why some eggs fail to hatch. “At our level, only two things can happen,” Alessia explains. ‘Or the egg was fertilized, but the embryo died during development. Or there was never an embryo. The egg is not fertilized. It’s really important to tell the difference because the reasons are so varied.’ This approach was exactly what Alecia was looking for and began the challenge of applying it to the world of turtles and tortoises, which is now the focus of her PhD at the University of Sheffield. ‘We didn’t believe it was going to happen!’ he laughs. But luckily, Alessia was successful. He was able to test the method on eggs from wild and captive populations of six species thanks to collaboration with eight conservation partners and islands: the Seychelles Foundation (Aldabra); Island Conservation Society (Alphonsus Island); Nature Seychelles (Cousin Island); SOSF D’Arros Research Center (D’Arros Island); The Olive Ridley Project (Felicité); Frégate Island Foundation 172 (Frégate Island); Seychelles Marine Conservation Society (Mahe); North Island Company Limited (North Island); and members of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA). The results have just been published paper‘Understanding early reproductive failure in turtles and tortoisespublished in the magazine Protection of animals. By demonstrating that fertilization can be reliably detected, this method is a valuable new tool for monitoring reproductive success in threatened populations. Alessia Lavin dived under the sea during a snorkeling trip while on the island of D’Arros to help with a marine education program. Photo by Henriette Grimmel | © Save Our Seas Foundation Alesia’s research has wider implications for the conservation of Seychelles turtles and tortoises. More than 50% of all species on Earth are threatened with extinction due to the illegal pet trade, marine pollution and habitat destruction. “Understanding reproductive failure is becoming more important as we try to navigate this changing world,” says Alessia. But his research suggests there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The underlying causes of reproductive failure vary not only among species but also within populations of the same species. This means that conservation strategies need to be developed at the population level and take into account the nuances of reproductive failure – so it is crucial to distinguish between the two causes of failure. Embryo death can be caused by many things: incubation conditions, temperature, weather, sand and soil quality. And for fertilization failure, the reasons are completely different. In fact, it is necessary to look at adults and determine whether there is a reproductive problem.” One of the oldest turtles on D’Arros Island is the juvenile Aldabra dwarf tortoise. Photo by Ryan Daly | © Save Our Seas Foundation Alesia’s work is a step in the right direction, helping conservationists make informed decisions about targeting reproductive vulnerability. “Time and money are really limited when it comes to conservation,” says Alessia. “If you’re just doing guessing games, you’re wasting resources. I feel like that happens a lot because there’s no other choice. I want to give people that choice.” Thanks to the work of Seychelles researcher Alessia Lavigne, we have a better understanding of the future of Seychelles turtles and tortoises. Photo by Henriette Grimmel | © Save Our Seas Foundation #Seychelles #researcher #waves #fight #save #endangered #turtles #tortoises https://ift.tt/UmqEaK1
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