Action

Use signs and access restrictions to reduce disturbance

How is the evidence assessed?
  • Effectiveness
    not assessed
  • Certainty
    not assessed
  • Harms
    not assessed

Study locations

Key messages

  • One study evaluated the effects on reptile populations of using signs and access restrictions to reduce disturbance. This study was in Turkey.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

POPULATION RESPONSE (1 STUDY)

  • Reproductive success (1 study): One replicated, controlled study in Turkey found that in an area with signs where sea turtle nests were fenced, nests had higher hatching success than nests from areas with no fencing or signs.

BEHAVIOUR (0 STUDIES)

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

  1. A replicated, controlled study in 2000 on a sandy beach in southwest Turkey (Başkale & Kaska 2005) found that sea turtle nests protected from human foot traffic using fencing and signs around individual nests tended to have higher hatching success rates than unprotected nests. Results were not statistically tested. Nests fenced for protection had 76% hatching success (667 of 880 eggs hatched, of which 653 hatchlings reached the sea) compared to 65% hatching success of unfenced nests (3,317 of 5,075 eggs hatched, of which 3,078 hatchlings reached the sea). All nests (12 nests) in a 2.5 km section of the 8 km long Fethiye Beach were fenced (70 × 70 × 150 cm with a 1 cm plastic mesh) with a sign “Do not disturb the turtle nests” in both Turkish and English to prevent human disturbance. Nests on the rest of the beach (72 nests) were unfenced. Nests were monitored from June to September 2000.

    Study and other actions tested
Please cite as:

Sainsbury K.A., Morgan W.H., Watson M., Rotem G., Bouskila A., Smith R.K. & Sutherland W.J. (2021) Reptile Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions for reptiles. Conservation Evidence Series Synopsis. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

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Reptile Conservation

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Reptile Conservation
Reptile Conservation

Reptile Conservation - Published 2021

Reptile synopsis

What Works 2021 cover

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