Global trends in sea turtle research and conservation: Using symposium abstracts to assess past biases and future opportunities

We quantified research trends in the field of sea turtle science by collating data from 30 years of abstracts presented annually at the International Sea Turtle Symposium – the largest scientific symposia focusing exclusively on sea turtles. From the analysis of 7370 abstracts, we revealed five key findings: (1) loggerhead and green turtles were studied more than any other species; (2) the most studied Regional Management Units (RMUs) were typically those in the North Atlantic Ocean while the least studies were in the Indian Ocean; (3) almost half of all sea turtle studies were conducted on nesting beaches, leaving juveniles and adult males extensively understudied; (4) the most studied threat to sea turtles was fisheries bycatch although the proportion of studies on climate change increased rapidly after 2006; and (5) mark-recapture was the most utilized method for studying sea turtles but its use has dropped proportionately alongside an increased use of more modern tools such as satellite telemetry, stable isotope analysis, and genetics. We conclude that long-standing biases exist in sea turtle science and this has lead to many regions, habitats, and life-stages being chronically understudied. While trends suggest that these biases are slowly being addressed, efforts are still required to ensure that future studies effectively address the greatest conservation needs or fill the largest knowledge gaps on a truly global-scale.