Non-invasive nocturnal surveys of sea turtle nesting beaches at La Flor (Pacific) Nicaragua, and Pacuare Reserve and Tortuguero (Caribbean) Costa Rica, July 2013

Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Data_Organization_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Entity_and_Attribute_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator:

Stephanie Duenas, Laszlo Kover, Dmitriy Korobitsyn and Falk Huettmann

Publication_Date: 20130731

Title:

Non-invasive nocturnal surveys of sea turtle nesting beaches at La Flor (Pacific) Nicaragua, and Pacuare Reserve and Tortuguero (Caribbean) Costa Rica, July 2013

Edition: 1

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: database

Series_Information:

Series_Name: 1

Issue_Identification: 1

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: University of Alaska-Fairbanks

Publisher: Maderas Rainforest Conservancy

Other_Citation_Details: None

Online_Linkage: Maderas Rainforest Conservancy

Description:

Abstract:

Marine turtles on the nesting beaches of La Flor public beach (latitude11.14282, longitude 11.14282, geographic datum WGS84), Pacific Nicaragua, and Pacuare Reserve public beach (latitude 10.20123, longitude 83.25925) and Tortuguero (latitude 10.59583, longitude 83.52520) , Caribbean, Costa Rica were observed during late hours after sunset. Observations where noninvasive, geo-referenced and observers stayed three meters away from the sea turtles, according to the national requirements (no light, and some limited red light was used for field clarifications). Many surrounding attributes were taken into consideration and measured including date, time, species, location, observed cysts present in the facial region, visually estimated carapace length, other disturbances present on the beach, number of people/tourists and dogs present, plastic encountered, and if applicable, start and end time of specific activities of nesting (such as start of nest time, start of egg laying and start of Ridley dance.) These data are part of a citizen science project and from a sea turtle fieldclass with Maderas Rainforest Conservancy. This dataset consists of an MS Excel sheet and is less than 1MB in size. Some photoes were taken to present the beaches and procedures.

Purpose:

To observe and record non-invasive data of nesting sea turtles on the public beach of La Flor beach (Pacific) in Nicaragua and Pacuare Reserve and Turtuguero (Caribbean), Costa Rica.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 20130706

Ending_Date: 20130723

Currentness_Reference: observed

Status:

Progress: In work

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed

Spatial_Domain:

Description_of_Geographic_Extent:

La Flor is a public beach located in southwest Nicaragua. It is a narrow and curved beach of 1.5km length that has high rock cliffs at either end. The beach is mostly sandy, but has one edge with pebbles and rocks. Right at the beach edge is a forest that then leads to a camping ground with a ranger station. Pacuar Reserve hosts Playa Vigilada which is 6km in length with a station located on the south end and an additional station located in the north. A tropical forest lines the shore of the beach with a brackish river running on the other side of the forest which leads into the ocean. Tortuguero is a public sand beach and we surveyed 1.75km.

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: 85.79651

East_Bounding_Coordinate: 83.23883

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 11.14682

South_Bounding_Coordinate: 10.19951

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Theme_Keyword: Turtle nesting

Theme_Keyword: Turtle tracks

Theme_Keyword: Pacuare Reserve

Theme_Keyword: Olive Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea)

Theme_Keyword: Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

Theme_Keyword: Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Theme_Keyword: Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)

Theme_Keyword: La Flor Beach

Theme_Keyword: Costa Rica

Theme_Keyword: Nicaragua

Theme_Keyword: Central America

Theme_Keyword: Ecology

Theme_Keyword: Conservation

Theme_Keyword: Testudines

Theme_Keyword: Reptiles

Theme_Keyword: Caribbean

Theme_Keyword: Pacific

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: National Park Service Theme Category Thesaurus

Theme_Keyword: Turtle nesting

Theme_Keyword: Turtle tracks

Theme_Keyword: Pacuare Reserve

Theme_Keyword: Olive Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea)

Theme_Keyword: Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

Theme_Keyword: Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Theme_Keyword: Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)

Theme_Keyword: La Flor Beach

Theme_Keyword: Costa Rica

Theme_Keyword: Nicaragua

Theme_Keyword: Central America

Theme_Keyword: Ecology

Theme_Keyword: Conservation

Theme_Keyword: Testudines

Theme_Keyword: Reptiles

Theme_Keyword: Caribbean

Theme_Keyword: Pacific

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category

Theme_Keyword: Turtle nesting

Theme_Keyword: Turtle tracks

Theme_Keyword: Pacuare Reserve

Theme_Keyword: Olive Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea)

Theme_Keyword: Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

Theme_Keyword: Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Theme_Keyword: Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)

Theme_Keyword: La Flor Beach

Theme_Keyword: Costa Rica

Theme_Keyword: Nicaragua

Theme_Keyword: Central America

Theme_Keyword: Ecology

Theme_Keyword: Conservation

Theme_Keyword: Testudines

Theme_Keyword: Reptiles

Theme_Keyword: Caribbean

Theme_Keyword: Pacific

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Place_Keyword: Nicaragua

Place_Keyword: La Flor

Place_Keyword: Central America

Place_Keyword: Pacuare Reserve

Place_Keyword: Tortuguero

Place_Keyword: Costa Rica

Place_Keyword: Pacific

Place_Keyword: Caribbean

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: National Park System Unit Name Thesaurus

Place_Keyword: Nicaragua

Place_Keyword: La Flor

Place_Keyword: Central America

Place_Keyword: Pacuare Reserve

Place_Keyword: Tortuguero

Place_Keyword: Costa Rica

Place_Keyword: Pacific

Place_Keyword: Caribbean

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: National Park System Unit Code Thesaurus

Place_Keyword: Nicaragua

Place_Keyword: La Flor

Place_Keyword: Central America

Place_Keyword: Pacuare Reserve

Place_Keyword: Tortuguero

Place_Keyword: Costa Rica

Place_Keyword: Pacific

Place_Keyword: Caribbean

Taxonomy:

Keywords/Taxon:

Taxonomic_Keyword_Thesaurus: Testudines

Taxonomic_Keywords: Vertebrate

Taxonomic_Keywords: Reptile

Taxonomic_Keywords: marine turtle

Taxonomic_Keywords: Olive Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea, TSN 173840)

Taxonomic_Keywords: Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea TSN 173843)

Taxonomic_Keywords: Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata TSN 208666)

Taxonomic_Keywords: Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas TSN 173833)

Taxonomic_System:

Classification_System/Authority:

Classification_System_Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Unknown

Publication_Date: Unknown

Title:

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form:

Classification_System_Modifications: itis.org

Identification_Reference:

Citation_Information:

Originator: authors

Publication_Date: Unknown

Title:

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form:

Taxonomic_Procedures: ID in the field

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Kingdom

Taxon_Rank_Value: Animalia

Applicable_Common_Name: Animal

Applicable_Common_Name: animaux

Applicable_Common_Name: animals

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Phylum

Taxon_Rank_Value: Chordata

Applicable_Common_Name: cordés

Applicable_Common_Name: cordado

Applicable_Common_Name: chordates

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Subphylum

Taxon_Rank_Value: Vertebrata

Applicable_Common_Name: vertebrado

Applicable_Common_Name: vertébrés

Applicable_Common_Name: vertebrates

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Class

Taxon_Rank_Value: Reptilia

Applicable_Common_Name: répteis

Applicable_Common_Name: reptiles

Applicable_Common_Name: Reptiles

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Order

Taxon_Rank_Value: Testudines

Applicable_Common_Name: terrapins

Applicable_Common_Name: tortoises

Applicable_Common_Name: tortues

Applicable_Common_Name: Turtles

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Family

Taxon_Rank_Value: Cheloniidae

Applicable_Common_Name: marine turtles

Applicable_Common_Name: modern sea turtles

Applicable_Common_Name: Sea Turtles

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Genus

Taxon_Rank_Value: Chelonia

Applicable_Common_Name: Green Sea Turtles

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Species

Taxon_Rank_Value: Chelonia mydas

Applicable_Common_Name: Green Sea Turtle

Applicable_Common_Name: Tortuga-marina verde-del Atlántico

Applicable_Common_Name: common green sea turtle

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Genus

Taxon_Rank_Value: Eretmochelys

Applicable_Common_Name: Hawksbill Sea Turtles

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Species

Taxon_Rank_Value: Eretmochelys imbricata

Applicable_Common_Name: hawksbill sea turtle

Applicable_Common_Name: carey

Applicable_Common_Name: Hawksbill

Applicable_Common_Name: Tortuga-marina de carey

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Genus

Taxon_Rank_Value: Lepidochelys

Applicable_Common_Name: Ridley Sea Turtles

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Species

Taxon_Rank_Value: Lepidochelys olivacea

Applicable_Common_Name: olive ridley sea turtle

Applicable_Common_Name: Pacific ridley

Applicable_Common_Name: Pacific ridley sea turtle

Applicable_Common_Name: Olive Ridley

Applicable_Common_Name: Tortuga-marina escamosa-del Pacífico

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Family

Taxon_Rank_Value: Dermochelyidae

Applicable_Common_Name: leatherback turtles

Applicable_Common_Name: Leatherback Sea Turtles

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Genus

Taxon_Rank_Value: Dermochelys

Applicable_Common_Name: Leatherback Sea Turtles

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Species

Taxon_Rank_Value: Dermochelys coriacea

Applicable_Common_Name: leatherback sea turtle

Applicable_Common_Name: leatherback turtle

Applicable_Common_Name: Leatherback

Applicable_Common_Name: Tortuga-marina laúd

Applicable_Common_Name: tinglar

Applicable_Common_Name: tortue luth

Access_Constraints: None

Use_Constraints: None

Data_Set_Credit:

Madera's Rainforest Conservancy ITIS.org

Security_Information:

Security_Classification_System: NA

Security_Classification: Unclassified

Security_Handling_Description: NA

Native_Data_Set_Environment: Note book and PC

Cross_Reference:

Citation_Information:

Originator: James R. Spotila

Publication_Date: 2004

Title:

Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation

Edition: 1

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form:

Analytical_Tool:

Analytical_Tool_Description: GPS in the field

Tool_Access_Information:

Tool_Access_Instructions:

Data_Quality_Information:

Logical_Consistency_Report:

Completeness_Report:

Positional_Accuracy:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report: GPS, +- 10m

Lineage:

Methodology:

Methodology_Type: Field

Methodology_Description:

We walked on the public beach, usually with a guide or tourists. When turtle was found, e.g. nesting, we followed usual procedures and colleted all data as specified. This survey is opportunistic and covers usually the time 7PM til 2AM. Some photos were taken of the habitat and situation once the turtle was done with nesting or gone.

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

Field book and PC + GPS, some photos of the habitat and once the turtle was gone.

Process_Date: Unknown

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Indirect_Spatial_Reference:

La Flor beach, Nicaragua Playa Vigilada, Costa Rica

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Geographic:

Latitude_Resolution: 0.001

Longitude_Resolution: 0.001

Geographic_Coordinate_Units: Decimal degrees

Geodetic_Model:

Horizontal_Datum_Name: World Geodetic System of 1984

Ellipsoid_Name: World Geodetic System of 1984

Semi-major_Axis: 6378137

Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.25722210088

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label: Turtle Nesting Accounts

Entity_Type_Definition:

Data collected when encountering turtle tracks or a nesting turtle.

Entity_Type_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Month

Attribute_Definition: Month of the year

Attribute_Definition_Source: calendar

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Day

Attribute_Definition: Day of the month

Attribute_Definition_Source: calendar

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: year

Attribute_Definition: year data was collected

Attribute_Definition_Source: calendar

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Start time of observation

Attribute_Definition: Time when first starting to observe

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer, watch

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: End of observation

Attribute_Definition: time when observers left field sight

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer, watch

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Beach

Attribute_Definition: Beach in which observations were made

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Observers

Attribute_Definition: Observers making observations

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Latitude

Attribute_Definition: latitude of location if applicable

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer, GPS

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: longitude

Attribute_Definition: longitude of observation

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer, GPS

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Altitude

Attribute_Definition: altitude of location if applicable

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer, GPS

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Species

Attribute_Definition: common name of species observed

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: scientific name

Attribute_Definition: species scientific name of animals observed

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: carapace length

Attribute_Definition: length of turtle carapace from anterior to posterior end

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Succesfull Nesting

Attribute_Definition: yes or no if the nesting wsa completed. eggs laid and covered

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Military guards present

Attribute_Definition:

counting, if any, military guards present during observational period.

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: People present

Attribute_Definition: people, tourists, or locals present at the time of observation

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Dogs

Attribute_Definition: Dogs present during observation period

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Light disturbance

Attribute_Definition: yes or no if light was present during the time of nesting

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Sound Disturbance

Attribute_Definition:

yes or no if any sound was present, including talking, during time of nesting

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Digging Disturbance

Attribute_Definition: yes or no, if digging occured behind nesting female.

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: distance from tree line

Attribute_Definition: distance from the tree line to the nesting turtle if applicable

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Starting of digging time

Attribute_Definition: time in which female began digging nest if applicable

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Start of egg laying

Attribute_Definition: time at start of egg laying if applicable

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: start of ridley dance

Attribute_Definition:

start of ridley dance, or compression of sand over the eggs, if applicable

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: end of nesting

Attribute_Definition: time of end of nesting

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Plastic

Attribute_Definition: plastic encountered by turtle when going back to the ocean

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: cysts

Attribute_Definition:

observed if cysts werre present in the facial region of the turtle

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Bite marks

Attribute_Definition: yes or no, if bite marks were present on the the turtle

Attribute_Definition_Source: observer

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Contact Author

Contact_Address:

Address_Type:

City:

State_or_Province:

Postal_Code:

Contact_Voice_Telephone:

Distribution_Liability: none

Standard_Order_Process:

Fees: None

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20130712

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Stephanie Duenas, Falk Huettmann

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical

Address: 419 Irving I

City: Fairbanks

State_or_Province: Alaska

Postal_Code: 99775

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 907 474 7882

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: fhuettmann@alaska.edu

Hours_of_Service: business days

Contact_Instructions: by phone, in person, or email

Metadata_Standard_Name:

FGDC Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001.1-1999