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Do embedded roadway lights protect sea turtles?

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Date Issued:
2005
Summary:
Pole-mounted street lighting on coastal roadways is often visible in adjacent areas. At roadways near sea turtle nesting beaches, these lights can disrupt the nocturnal orientation of hatchlings as they crawl from the nest to the sea. Our objective was to determine if an alternative lighting system (light-emitting diodes, embedded in the roadway pavement) prevented orientation disruption of loggerhead hatchlings. Hatchlings at the beach oriented normally when the embedded lights were on, or when all lighting was switched off. However, turtles showed poor orientation when exposed to pole-mounted street lighting. Light measurements revealed that street lighting was present at the beach, whereas embedded lighting was absent. I conclude that embedded lighting systems restrict light scatter, leaving adjacent habitats dark, and therefore protect the turtles from artificial lighting allowing for normal seafinding.
Title: Do embedded roadway lights protect sea turtles?.
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Name(s): Bertolotti, Lesley L.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Salmon, Michael, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2005
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 30 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Pole-mounted street lighting on coastal roadways is often visible in adjacent areas. At roadways near sea turtle nesting beaches, these lights can disrupt the nocturnal orientation of hatchlings as they crawl from the nest to the sea. Our objective was to determine if an alternative lighting system (light-emitting diodes, embedded in the roadway pavement) prevented orientation disruption of loggerhead hatchlings. Hatchlings at the beach oriented normally when the embedded lights were on, or when all lighting was switched off. However, turtles showed poor orientation when exposed to pole-mounted street lighting. Light measurements revealed that street lighting was present at the beach, whereas embedded lighting was absent. I conclude that embedded lighting systems restrict light scatter, leaving adjacent habitats dark, and therefore protect the turtles from artificial lighting allowing for normal seafinding.
Identifier: 9780496967353 (isbn), 13203 (digitool), FADT13203 (IID), fau:10061 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2005.
Subject(s): Loggerhead turtle
Animal navigation
Animal orientation
Sea turtles--Orientation
Exterior lighting--Environmental aspects
Light pollution
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13203
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.