Understanding nesting ecology and behaviour of green marine turtles at Setiu,Terengganu, Malaysia |
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| Authors: | Aini Hasanah Abd Mutalib Nik Fadzly Amirrudin Ahmad Nurolhuda Nasir |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia;2. Centre For Marine & Coastal Studies (CEMACS), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia;3. Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia;4. World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Petaling Jaya, Malaysia |
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| Abstract: | In this paper, we emphasize the importance of understanding the nesting ecology and nesting behaviour of green marine turtles (Chelonia mydas). Data were collected from 2007 until 2012 from nesting beaches at Setiu Terengganu, Malaysia. We focused on one of the beaches, Telaga Papan, based on data collected in 2012. We recorded the distribution of nesting areas, the emergence hour and the correlation between successful nesting attempts and false crawls. Telaga Papan had a significantly higher distribution of green marine turtle nesting compared with the other five beaches (ANOVA, F5,42 = 8.874, P < 0.01, mean = 36.750 ± 3.727). The highest number of successful nesting attempts was recorded in 2012 (mean = 28.714). A majority of the species landed between 22:00 and 23:59 h (25%). There was a strong correlation between successful nesting attempts and false crawls (rs = 0.883, P = 0.02). Based on these findings on the nesting ecology and nesting behaviour of green marine turtles, we suggest that scientific research, strict monitoring, awareness programs and policy implementation should be carried out proactively. Such activities are necessary to reduce the anthropogenic pressures at the nesting beaches as well as to ensure more successful nesting attempts of green marine turtles in Setiu. |
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| Keywords: |
Chelonia mydas
conservation green turtles nesting behaviour nesting ecology |
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