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Abstract
The physical properities of sea turtle nesting beaches may strongly influence embryo development and hence conservation planning. In this study, we compared the characteristics of two nesting beaches of Green Turtles, Chelonia mydas, at Akyatan and Samandağ in southern Turkey. A total of 48 sand samples from 48 nests was examined and compared in respect to moisture content (M), temperature (TT), electrical conductivity (EC), salinity (S), total dissolved solution (TDS), pH, air ratio (AR), sand grain size together with distance from sea (DFS), depth (ND), incubation period (ID) and hatching success. Significant differences between the two areas were found in nest chamber moisture, conductivity, salinity, total dissolved solution and sand grain size. In a principal component analysis (PCA), the first component explained 45.1% of the variability and was dominated by the effects of the TDS, EC, S, pH and M. The second component explained 24.2 % of the variation and was dominated by the contributions of the TT, ID and ND. This is evidence that moisture plays a more important role than thermal properties in differentiating between the two beaches.
Acknowledgements
This study is part of a MKU-BAP project (Project no: 010D101), which was coordinated by the University of Mustafa Kemal and is part of the first author's PhD thesis. The authors wish to thank Sait Gürsoy, Samet Ertürk, M. Ali Sönmez, Özgür Ahmet Gönenler and the District Governor of Samandağ, Hatay Provincial Directorate of Environment and Forestry, for their support. The sand samples from Akyatan beach were collected within the framework of a protocol on sea turtle research and conservation between Adana Provincial Directorate of Environment and Forestry and WWF Turkey in 2008, whom we would like to thank.