Novel GPS tracking of sea turtles as a tool for conservation management
Novel GPS tracking of sea turtles as a tool for conservation management
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DOI：
10.1016/j.jembe.2007.03.009
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发表时间：
2007-08-24
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Hays, Graeme C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Schofield, Gall;Bishop, Charles M.;Hays, Graeme C.
我们使用最近开发的低功率TrackTag（TM）GPS记录仪来跟踪地中海最大繁殖种群（希腊扎金索斯）的雌性红海龟（Caretta caretta）的活动。在2006年5月和6月，对三只海龟进行了总共73天的跟踪，在此期间，在过滤离群值后获得了3753个GPS位置（每只海龟每天51个）。这三只海龟和其他三只海龟的潜水行为也使用时间深度记录仪（TDR）进行了监测。全球定位系统数据显示，所有三只海龟大部分时间都在非常靠近海岸（< 200米）的浅水（< 4英寸海床深度）中度过，主要是沿着沿着18.5公里的海岸线活动。从所有六只海龟获得的TDR数据以及在繁殖期间在海岸附近经常看到海龟的第一手资料证实了这些观察结果。与随机爬行运动模型的比较表明，两个跟踪海龟移动类似的非随机模式，这表明共同的生物物理过程可能是驱动他们的运动。我们收集的运动和深度数据都表明，保护这一保护区内海龟的现有立法可能不包括繁殖期雌性红海龟最重要的栖息地。我们的研究证明了利用GPS跟踪调查海洋脊椎动物的精细尺度运动的可行性，说明了GPS跟踪野生动物保护管理的价值。(c)2007 Elsevier B.V保留所有权利。
We used recently developed, low-powered, TrackTag(TM) GPS loggers to track the movements of female loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) at the largest breeding population in the Mediterranean (Zakynthos, Greece). Three turtles were tracked for a total of 73 days in May and June 2006, during which time 3753 GPS locations were obtained after filtering outliers (51 per day per turtle). The diving behaviour of these three turtles and three others was also monitored using time-depth recorders (TDR). The GPS data revealed that all three turtles spent most of their time in shallow water (< 4 in sea bed depth) very close to the shore (< 200 m), primarily ranging along an 18.5 km section of coastline. These observations were corroborated by TDR data acquired from all six turtles and frequent first-hand sightings of turtles close to shore during the breeding period. Comparison with random crawl movement models indicated that two of the tracked turtles moved with a similar non-random pattern, suggesting common biophysical processes might be driving their movements. The movement and depth data that we collected both suggest that existing legislation to safeguard sea turtles within this protected region may not include the most critical habitats for female loggerhead sea turtles during the breeding period. Our study demonstrated the feasibility of using GPS tracking to investigate fine-scale movements of a marine vertebrate, illustrating the value of GPS tracking for wildlife conservation management. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.