Adult sea turtles migrate between foraging areas and nesting sites that may be 100 s–1000 s of km away. Little is known of the connectivity between these sites in the Arabian region for green sea turtles. We document linkages between two foraging areas in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with key nesting sites and provide insights on effectiveness of marine protected areas for green sea turtles. Tracking 45 adult green sea turtles Chelonia mydas from foraging areas in the UAE, we show that the primary nesting destination for turtles foraging in Bu Tinah in the UAE is Ras al Hadd in Oman. The turtles use the waters of the UAE, Iran and Oman during breeding migrations and generally stay ~ 20 km off the coast, in waters 10–20 m deep except when crossing the Sea of Oman. Turtles display substantial fidelity to the original foraging sites, often traversing other known foraging sites when returning from the breeding migration. A small proportion of turtles also utilise more than one foraging site. Our data indicate that the Marawah Marine Biosphere Reserve in Abu Dhabi is broadly coincident with the foraging areas of turtles offering substantial protection from fishery activities and that the marine protected area in Ras Al Khaimah would be more effective in protecting green sea turtles if it extended offshore and along the coast. These data may contribute to targeted and effective national and international management and conservation initiatives in the Arabian region.

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来自阿拉伯联合酋长国觅食区的绿海龟的运动：区域栖息地连通性和海洋保护区的使用

成年海龟在觅食区和可能相距 100 秒至 1000 秒的筑巢地点之间迁徙。人们对阿拉伯地区这些绿海龟地点之间的连通性知之甚少。我们记录了阿拉伯联合酋长国 (UAE) 的两个觅食区与主要筑巢地点之间的联系，并提供有关海洋保护区对绿海龟的有效性的见解。追踪来自阿联酋觅食区的 45 只成年绿海龟 Chelonia mydas，我们发现在阿联酋 Bu Tinah 觅食的海龟的主要筑巢目的地是阿曼的 Ras al Hadd。海龟在繁殖迁徙期间使用阿联酋、伊朗和阿曼的水域，通常在离海岸约 20 公里、10-20 m 深的水域中停留，除非穿越阿曼海。海龟对原始觅食地点表现出极大的忠诚度，从繁殖迁徙回来时经常穿越其他已知的觅食地点。一小部分海龟也利用多个觅食地点。我们的数据表明，阿布扎比的马拉瓦海洋生物圈保护区与海龟的觅食区大体一致，为渔业活动提供了实质性的保护，而哈伊马角的海洋保护区如果扩展到近海，将更有效地保护绿海龟并沿着海岸。这些数据可能有助于阿拉伯地区有针对性和有效的国家和国际管理和保护举措。我们的数据表明，阿布扎比的马拉瓦海洋生物圈保护区与海龟的觅食区大体一致，为渔业活动提供了实质性的保护，而哈伊马角的海洋保护区如果扩展到近海，将更有效地保护绿海龟并沿着海岸。这些数据可能有助于阿拉伯地区有针对性和有效的国家和国际管理和保护举措。我们的数据表明，阿布扎比的马拉瓦海洋生物圈保护区与海龟的觅食区大体一致，为渔业活动提供了实质性的保护，而哈伊马角的海洋保护区如果扩展到近海，将更有效地保护绿海龟并沿着海岸。这些数据可能有助于阿拉伯地区有针对性和有效的国家和国际管理和保护举措。