Abstract
 Characterizing Sea Turtle Nesting Behavior with Mobile GIS Track: Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management Author(s): Kirt Rusenko, Eric Householder, Jennifer Marangos The City of Boca Raton has monitored sea turtle nesting activity on its five miles of beach since 1976. Ten one-half mile zones locate the crawls, and this activity is reported to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The zones generally do not provide biologists enough detail to locate problem areas where lighting or predators are adversely impacting nesting sea turtles. In 2004 the Boca Raton Sea Turtle Conservation Program began recording nesting activity with handheld computers fitted with GPS receivers and ArcPad. The high resolution offered by GIS has shown that there is more nesting activity in front of condominiums and less in City Parks this season. The unexpected drop in nesting density is visualized with ArcGIS Spatial Analyst. City Glow may be responsible for this pattern, and sea turtles are seeking the shaded areas in front of condominiums. This detailed information will help resolve this problem. Kirt Rusenko City of Boca Raton Recreation Services 1801 N. Ocean Blvd Boca Raton , FL 33432 US Phone: 561-338-1584 Fax: 561-338-1483 E-mail: krusenko@ci.boca-raton.fl.us Eric Householder Xpedition Geosciences 2209 SW 15th. St. Deerfield Beach , FL 33441 US Phone: 754-246-1847 E-mail: rick@xpeditiongeosciences Jennifer Marangos City of Boca Raton Information Technology/GIS Services 201 W. Palmetto Park Rd Boca Raton , FL 33432 US Phone: 561-416-3838 Fax: 561-416-3856 E-mail: jmarangos@ci.boca-raton.fl.us |
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