Nesting climate refugia for marine turtles of the Sunshine Coast

Principal Investigator

To develop a scalable spatial analysis to identify climate refugia for nesting turtles within the Sunshine Coast. Refugia is defined as areas of current suitable nesting habitat whose exposure to threatening climactic variables is predicted to remain stable over time. the project will consider predicted sea level rise, erosion and temperature change at current and future scenarios. By comparing current and future levels of exposure to these climatic variables, maps that identify areas of imminent loss (exposure to climatic threats predicted to increase), novelty (exposure decreases) and refugia (exposure remains stable) can be developed. The project will also examine geomorphology of the coastline to map the current suitable nesting habitat and quantifying the vulnerability of that habitat to specific climatic and anthropogenic threats.

01 Feb 2025 - 30 Jun 2026

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