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The effect of filtered roadway lighting on nesting by loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta L.)

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Date Issued:
2000
Summary:
The purpose of this study was to determine if filtered street lighting affected the nesting behavior of loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta L.). My study site was a nesting beach at Carlin Park, Jupiter, Florida. During the 1999 nesting season, portions of the beach were either kept dark or were illuminated by four 70 W high-pressure sodium (HPS) streetlights, each housed in a cut-off fixture covered by an acrylic (model #2422) filter. These filters excluded all light wavelengths below 540 nm. The excluded wavelengths repel nesting females. Daily counts of nesting and non-nesting crawls were made. Data from the 1999 nesting season were compared to historical records of nesting at the site between 1990 and 1998. I found no evidence that filtered lights affected nesting densities, or the ratio of successful to unsuccessful crawls. These results suggest that at Carlin Park, the nesting behavior of loggerhead females is unaffected by exposure of the beach to filtered street lighting.
Title: The effect of filtered roadway lighting on nesting by loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta L.).
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Name(s): Pennell, Jeffrey P.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree Grantor
Salmon, Michael, Thesis advisor
Department of Biological Sciences
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2000
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 43 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The purpose of this study was to determine if filtered street lighting affected the nesting behavior of loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta L.). My study site was a nesting beach at Carlin Park, Jupiter, Florida. During the 1999 nesting season, portions of the beach were either kept dark or were illuminated by four 70 W high-pressure sodium (HPS) streetlights, each housed in a cut-off fixture covered by an acrylic (model #2422) filter. These filters excluded all light wavelengths below 540 nm. The excluded wavelengths repel nesting females. Daily counts of nesting and non-nesting crawls were made. Data from the 1999 nesting season were compared to historical records of nesting at the site between 1990 and 1998. I found no evidence that filtered lights affected nesting densities, or the ratio of successful to unsuccessful crawls. These results suggest that at Carlin Park, the nesting behavior of loggerhead females is unaffected by exposure of the beach to filtered street lighting.
Identifier: 9780599955561 (isbn), 12720 (digitool), FADT12720 (IID), fau:9601 (fedora)
Note(s): Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2000.
Subject(s): Loggerhead turtle
Sea turtles--Nests
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12720
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.