Implication for the conservation
The green turtle population of Tetiaroa shows a significant level of
relatedness and inbreeding, with no clear inbreeding avoidance strategy
and an apparent preference for related partners that rather favour it.
This indicates that the reproductive system of green turtles makes them
intrinsically vulnerable to inbreeding and its potential negative
consequences on the capacity of a population to maintain itself through
generations. Although it does not seem to affect the fitness of
Tetiaroa’s population at this stage, it could have negative effects if
the number of breeders is not maintained, which highlights the
importance of turtle conservation programs. On Tetiaroa, a conservation
and monitoring program has been in place since 2007, and an increasing
number of breeders has been recorded on the island, indicating that it
is likely efficient and can preserve the genetic diversity of this
population (Touron et al., 2018). Finally, unexpected plasticity in
green turtle mating behaviours and nesting parameters shows some
adaptive capacity which may help maintain the population’s resilience
under changing environmental conditions.