Habitat suitability for loggerhead turtle nesting sites along the Southern Adriatic and Northern Ionian (Central Mediterranean Sea)

We present a model of habitat suitability for the loggerhead turtle nesting sites along the Apulian and Lucanian Coasts. The model is based on nesting records and seven environmental variables, i.e. distances from isobaths of 1500 m and 3200 m, absolute depth, mean monthly surface temperature of sea, mean monthly concentration of chlorophyll, mean monthly solar radiation and mean VIIRS Day/Night Band Nighttime Lights. Maps were computed for each variable and processed to obtain a MaxEnt distribution model of nesting sites suitability. The nesting suitability model shows that AUC estimate from iterative ROC analysis is high (0.981, s.d.= 0.009). Jackknife estimations for variable contribution to model indicated that the most important contributors were absolute depth, Day/Night Band Nighttime Lights and coastline distance from the bathymetric lines of 3200 m. Areas of maximum suitability for nesting are around Salento, and great part of Ionian coast of Lucania. Although preliminary, the present model represents a useful tool for the prediction of the habitat suitability of C. caretta and the implementation of conservation measures according indications from the SPA/BD Protocol.