Economic costs of non-native species in Türkiye: A first national synthesis.

Biological invasions are increasingly recognised as a major global change that erodes ecosystems, societal well-being, and economies. However, comprehensive analyses of their economic ramifications are missing for most national economies, despite rapidly escalating costs globally. Türkiye is highly vulnerable to biological invasions owing to its extensive transport network and trade connections as well as its unique transcontinental position at the interface of Europe and Asia. This study presents the first analysis of the reported economic costs caused by biological invasions in Türkiye. The InvaCost database which compiles invasive non-native species' monetary costs was used, complemented with cost searches specific to Türkiye, to describe the spatial and taxonomic attributes of costly invasive non-native species, the types of costs, and their temporal trends. The total economic cost attributed to invasive non-native species in Türkiye (from 202 cost reporting documents) amounted to US$ 4.1 billion from 1960 to 2022. However, cost data were only available for 87 out of 872 (10%) non-native species known for Türkiye. Costs were biased towards a few hyper-costly non-native taxa, such as jellyfish, stink bugs, and locusts. Among impacted sectors, agriculture bore the highest total cost, reaching US$ 2.85 billion, followed by the fishery sector with a total cost of US$ 1.20 billion. Management (i.e., control and eradication) costs were, against expectations, substantially higher than reported damage costs (US$ 2.89 billion vs. US$ 28.4 million). Yearly costs incurred by non-native species rose exponentially over time, reaching US$ 504 million per year in 2020-2022 and are predicted to increase further in the next 10 years. A large deficit of cost records compared to other countries was also shown, suggesting a larger monetary underestimate than is typically observed. These findings underscore the need for improved cost recording as well as preventative management strategies to reduce future post-invasion management costs and help inform decisions to manage the economic burdens posed by invasive non-native species. These insights further emphasise the crucial role of standardised data in accurately estimating the costs associated with invasive non-native species for prioritisation and communication purposes.

Priorities for Mediterranean marine turtle conservation and management in the face of climate change.

As climate-related impacts threaten marine biodiversity globally, it is important to adjust conservation efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. Translating scientific knowledge into practical management, however, is often complicated due to resource, economic and policy constraints, generating a knowledge-action gap. To develop potential solutions for marine turtle conservation, we explored the perceptions of key actors across 18 countries in the Mediterranean. These actors evaluated their perceived relative importance of 19 adaptation and mitigation measures that could safeguard marine turtles from climate change. Of importance, despite differences in expertise, experience and focal country, the perceptions of researchers and management practitioners largely converged with respect to prioritizing adaptation and mitigation measures. Climate change was considered to have the greatest impacts on offspring sex ratios and suitable nesting sites. The most viable adaptation/mitigation measures were considered to be reducing other pressures that act in parallel to climate change. Ecological effectiveness represented a key determinant for implementing proposed measures, followed by practical applicability, financial cost, and societal cost. This convergence in opinions across actors likely reflects long-standing initiatives in the Mediterranean region towards supporting knowledge exchange in marine turtle conservation. Our results provide important guidance on how to prioritize measures that incorporate climate change in decision-making processes related to the current and future management and protection of marine turtles at the ocean-basin scale, and could be used to guide decisions in other regions globally. Importantly, this study demonstrates a successful example of how interactive processes can be used to fill the knowledge-action gap between research and management.

Bacterial diversity of loggerhead and green turtle eggs from two major nesting beaches from the Turkish coast of the Mediterranean.

This study was conducted during the 2018 nesting season at the Sugözü Beaches (Adana-Turkey) and Göksu Delta (Mersin-Turkey). Egg samples (n = 63) from loggerhead and green turtle nests (n = 43) were collected. Isolated bacteria were initially identified by phenotypic methods and then by MALDI-TOF MS. The bacterial mass spectra were analyzed using Principal Component Analysis. Bacterial isolation was performed for 55 isolates belonging to 12 genera from two major nesting sites. In Sugözü Beaches 62.2% of the bacteria species belonged to Enterobacteriaceae and in Göksu Delta 44.4% of the bacteria species belonged to Morganellaceae. Klebsiella oxytoca and Staphylococcus haemolyticus had not previously been detected in any sea turtle nests. This is the first MALDI-TOF MS study conducted for determination of bacterial variability in loggerhead turtle eggs in Turkey and serves as a reference study for the assessment of bacterial threat in sea turtle nests, enabling the establishment of suitable conservation measures and treatment processes for both sea turtles and nesting sites.

The microbial community in a green turtle nesting beach in the Mediterranean: application of the Biolog EcoPlate approach for beach pollution.

This study aims to characterize the microbial community and its relationship with heavy metal pollution in the beaches of Sugözü, an important nesting site for the green turtle. Heavy metal concentrations of sand samples from subregions of Sugözü were determined using ICP-MS. The microbial community was analyzed using the Biolog® EcoPlate. The relationship between microbial catalytic activity and heavy metal levels were analyzed using canonical correspondence analysis. Levels of 27Al, 57Fe, 55Mn, and 52Cr were quite high (4332.34, 13,764.77, 590.98, and 48.21 mg/kg, respectively). The microbial community in subregions with high levels of metals was found to use carboxylic acid as a carbon source. Bioactivity, substrate utilization, diversity, and evenness values indicated negative correlations concentrations of 27Al, 56Fe, and 52Cr (-0.820, -0.508, and -0.560, respectively). It was also found that microbial diversity decreased in the subregions where heavy metal concentration increased. Embryonic deaths were found highest at early stage (0.1 to 0.2 eggs) and lowest at middle stage for whole study sites by inspecting a total 6408 eggs of 63 green turtle nests. The Biolog EcoPlate was firstly applied to determine pollution, and our findings clearly demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of this method in assessing nesting beaches.

Bacterial diversity of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nest environment.

The green turtle is an endangered species that is highly sensitive to environmental pollution that can adversely affect the healthy development of eggs. Moreover, the presence of some bacteria in nests can be regarded as an indicator of the pollution level in nesting areas. In our study, nest sand and egg contents were collected from Sugözü Beaches (Turkey), in the Mediterranean. Phenotypic and genotypic identification of bacteria were carried out by using conventional phenotypic methods, 16S rRNA gene sequencing respectively. The extended-spectrum beta-lactamase presence and carbapenem resistance of bacteria isolated from egg contents were determined. This is the first report of carbapenem resistance in the eggs. All strains were evaluated in three different categories including growth promoters in agriculture and aquaculture, pathogens that are found in human and animal, and biomonitoring aquatic pollution. According to our analysis, 67 bacterial species were identified from samples. This study is the first record of Alcaligenes, Zobellella, Lysinibacillus, Sphingobacterium, Achromobacter, Acinetobacter, Alcanivorax, Ochrobactrum, Microbacterium, Rhodococcus, and Stenotrophomonas isolated from sea turtles. Pathogens detected in the bacterial flora can threaten both sea turtles and field workers. These data can contribute to the development of new conservation strategies on the treatment of sea turtles, nest protection, and pollution detection on nesting beaches.