A model of environmental suitability for the conservation of the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta in the Southern Adriatic and Northern Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean Sea)

We present a preliminary model of environmental suitability for the conservation of the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta in the Southern Adriatic and Northern Ionian Sea. Data from stranding, bycatch, nesting and home range from telemetries from 1994 to 2013 were considered. Environmental data from nesting sites were used to compute a MaxEnt model of nesting suitability. Data from each set were then combined into a map subdivided into 5 km × 5 km cells to assess the environmental suitability of each cell. Preliminary data suggest that the model is useful to locate the areas of maximum suitability to concentrate efforts of monitoring and conservation.