Turtlenesting_2006

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:

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

Publication_Date: Unpublished material

Title: Turtlenesting_2006

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

Online_Linkage: <http://ocean.floridamarine.org/mrgis/>

Description:

Abstract:

The State of Florida, through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Florida Marine Research Institute, coordinates the Statewide Nesting Beach Survey program (SNBS). The SNBS was initiated in 1979 under a cooperative agreement between FWC (then DNR) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Its purpose is to document the total distribution, seasonality, and abundance of nesting by sea turtles in Florida. Three species of sea turtles, the loggerhead (Caretta caretta), the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), and the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), nest regularly on Florida's beaches. All the species are listed as either Threatened or Endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Survey data are derived from observations of tracks and other nesting signs left on the beach by sea turtles. Species identifications and determinations of nesting or non-nesting emergences are based on the evaluation of features of the track and the nest. Data are gathered through a network of permit holders consisting of private conservation groups, volunteers, consultants, academics, local governments, federal agencies, and the Florida Park Service. Results are used by managers to evaluate and minimize impacts to turtles and their nests due to human activities such as coastal construction, beach renourishment, and recreation, as well as to identify important areas for enhanced protection or land acquisition.

Purpose:

The purpose is to monitor marine turtle nesting activity to determine statewide distribution and relative abundance of nesting by three species of marine turtles. The State of Florida, through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Florida Marine Research Institute, coordinates the Statewide Nesting Beach Survey program (SNBS). The SNBS was initiated in 1979 under a cooperative agreement between FWC and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Its purpose is to document the total distribution, seasonality, and abundance of nesting by sea turtles in Florida. Three species of sea turtles, the loggerhead (Caretta caretta), the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), and the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), nest regularly on Florida's beaches. All the species are listed as either Threatened or Endangered under the Endangered Species Act.Survey data are derived from observations of tracks and other nesting signs left on the beach by sea turtles. Species identifications and determinations of nesting or non-nesting emergences are based on the evaluation of features of the track and the nest. Data are gathered through a network of permit holders consisting of private conservation groups, volunteers, consultants, academics, local governments, federal agencies, and the Florida Park Service. Results are used by managers to evaluate and minimize impacts to turtles and their nests due to human activities such as coastal construction, beach renourishment, and recreation, as well as to identify important areas for enhanced protection or land acquisition.

Supplemental_Information:

Prior to July 1, 2004, the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) was known as the Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI). The institute name has not been changed in historical data sets or references to work completed by the Florida Marine Research Institute. The institute name has been changed in references to ongoing research, new research, and contact information.--There are limitations to the use of the SNBS database imposed by the data collection methodology employed. Changes in survey boundaries for individual beaches and variability in survey frequency (days per week) and period (beginning and ending dates) occur in the SNBS program, making it inappropriate for assessing population trends. Population monitoring is the goal of a complementary DEP program, the Index Nesting Beach Survey Program. Not all beaches in Florida that are used for nesting by sea turtles are monitored, and thus nest totals represent a minimum estimate. Evaluation of changes in the number of nests over time in any area must take into account changes in survey effort. Survey effort is defined herein as the number of kilometers of beach that are monitored for nesting activity. It an imperfect measure, however, because it does not factor in survey frequency and period on individual beaches, which are also components of effort. Survey efforts are targeted principally at the loggerhead turtle. Green turtles and leatherbacks have overlapping but different nesting seasons and thus they are not fully represented in the data. The total number of nests for each of these species are underestimated, and the first and last nest date of the year do not always accurately reflect their respective nesting seasons. Determination of nesting success, i.e., whether an emergence has resulted in eggs being deposited, or in a "false crawl", can be difficult, especially in areas where nest densities are high or in situations where weather has erased the marks left in the sand by the turtle. To protect the integrity of the nests, assessment of nesting success is made visually and is not confirmed by digging. Thus, there is opportunity for error in this determination.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 19790101

Beginning_Time: unknown

Ending_Date: Present

Ending_Time: unknown

Currentness_Reference: ground condition

Status:

Progress: In work

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: Annually

Spatial_Domain:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -87.513066

East_Bounding_Coordinate: -79.884619

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 30.728376

South_Bounding_Coordinate: 24.482112

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: FWRI Theme

Theme_Keyword: turtle

Theme_Keyword: threatened and endangered (turtles, whales, manatees, sturgeon)

Theme_Keyword: monitoring

Theme_Keyword: coastal Florida

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category

Theme_Keyword: biota

Theme:

Theme:

Theme:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: Operational Tiers

Theme_Keyword: Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

Theme_Keyword: Wildlife Research

Theme_Keyword: Marine Turtle Research

Theme_Keyword: Artificial Lighting and Sea Turtle Hatchling Behavior

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: FWRI Place

Place_Keyword: Florida

Place_Keyword: statewide

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: FWC Region

Place_Keyword: FWC Region-North Central

Place_Keyword: FWC Region-Northeast

Place_Keyword: FWC Region-Northwest

Place_Keyword: FWC Region-South

Place_Keyword: FWC Region-Southwest

Access_Constraints:

All data must be verified by Principle Investigator or Group Database Analyst prior to release. It is strongly recommended that this data is directly acquired from FWC and not indirectly through other sources which may have changed the data in some way. FWC makes no claims as to the data's suitability for other purposes.

Use_Constraints:

Acknowledgment of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute as the data source would be appreciated in any products developed from these data, and such acknowledgment as is standard for citation and legal practices for data source is expected by users of this data. Please cite the original metadata when using portions of the record to create a similar record of slightly altered data, such as reprojection. If any data are modified or adjusted, please share the edited information with FWC. Users should be aware that comparison with other data sets for the same area from other time periods may be inaccurate due to inconsistencies resulting from changes in mapping conventions, data collection, and computer processes over time. FWC shall not be liable for improper or incorrect use of this data. These data are not legal documents and are not to be used as such. It should be noted that shapefiles consisting of Statewide survey areas are general representations and are not attributes.

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Brost, Beth

Contact_Organization:

FWC-FWRI (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission - Fish and Wildlife Research Institute)

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

Address: 100 Eighth Avenue Southeast

City: St. Petersburg

State_or_Province: FL

Postal_Code: 33701-5095

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 727-896-8626

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 727-823-0166

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: metadata@MyFWC.com

Data_Set_Credit:

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute's Marine Turtle Program; Florida Marine Turtle Permit Holders; Florida Game and Fish Commission's Nongame Wildlife Program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Native_Data_Set_Environment:

Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.2.4.1420

Data_Quality_Information:

Logical_Consistency_Report:

Data in the Access database are proofed for agreement with hard copy end-of-the-year reports submitted by permit holders.

Completeness_Report: Ongoing data collection

Lineage:

Cloud_Cover: Unknown

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Indirect_Spatial_Reference:

It should be noted that shapefiles consisting of Statewide survey areas are general representations and are not attributes.

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Vector

Point_and_Vector_Object_Information:

SDTS_Terms_Description:

SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: String

Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 199

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Planar:

Map_Projection:

Map_Projection_Name: Albers Conical Equal Area

Albers_Conical_Equal_Area:

Standard_Parallel: 24.000000

Standard_Parallel: 31.500000

Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -84.000000

Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 24.000000

False_Easting: 400000.000000

False_Northing: 0.000000

Planar_Coordinate_Information:

Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: coordinate pair

Coordinate_Representation:

Abscissa_Resolution: 0.000000

Ordinate_Resolution: 0.000000

Planar_Distance_Units: meters

Geodetic_Model:

Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983

Ellipsoid_Name: Geodetic Reference System 80

Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.000000

Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label: Turtlenesting_2006

Entity_Type_Definition: Access database

Entity_Type_Definition_Source: Producer defined

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: LENGTH

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: STARTDATE

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: ENDDATE

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CC_NEST

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CC_FALSE

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CC_False

Attribute_Definition: Number of Caretta caretta false crawls

Attribute_Definition_Source: Producer defined

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CM_False

Attribute_Definition: Number of Chelonia mydas false crawlsification

Attribute_Definition_Source: Producer defined

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: DC_False

Attribute_Definition: Number of Dermochelys coriacea false crawls

Attribute_Definition_Source: Producer defined

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Length

Attribute_Definition: Length of beach

Attribute_Definition_Source: Producer defined

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Range_Domain:

Attribute_Units_of_Measure: Km

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Shape

Attribute_Definition: Feature geometry.

Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain: Coordinates defining the features.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: COUNTY

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: BEACH

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CC_FIRST

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CC_Nest

Attribute_Definition: Number of Caretta carretta nests

Attribute_Definition_Source: Producer defined

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CC_LAST

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CM_Nest

Attribute_Definition: Number of Chelonia mydas nests

Attribute_Definition_Source: Producer defined

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CM_NEST

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: DC_Nest

Attribute_Definition: Number of Dermochelys coriaceanests

Attribute_Definition_Source: Producer defined

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CM_FALSE

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: FID

Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.

Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain:

Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CM_FIRST

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: YEAR_

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CM_LAST

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: DC_NEST

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: DC_FALSE

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: DC_FIRST

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: DC_LAST

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: UNIQUEBCH

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: display

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

The statewide nesting database contains crawl data for the five sea turtles that nest in Florida since 1979.

Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:

Statewide Nesting Beach Survey program. FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Group Metadata Technician

Contact_Organization:

FWC-FWRI (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute)

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing address

Address: Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

Address: 100 Eighth Avenue Southeast

City: St. Petersburg

State_or_Province: FL

Postal_Code: 33701-5095

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 727-896-8626

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 727-823-0166

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: metadata@MyFWC.com

Resource_Description: Downloadable Data

Distribution_Liability:

This data set is in the public domain, and the recipient may not assert any proprietary rights thereto nor represent it to anyone as other than a FWC-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute produced data set; it is provided "as-is" without warranty of any kind, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The user assumes all responsibility for the accuracy and suitability of this data set for a specific application. In no event will the staff of the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute be liable for any damages, including lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising from the use of or the inability to use this data set.

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: Shapefile

Format_Specification:

Digital or electronic dataset. Transmittal by ftp, e-mail, or CD.

Transfer_Size: 0.174

Fees: none

Ordering_Instructions: Contact Group Metadata Technician

Turnaround:

Approximately ten working days, depending on workload and amount of information requested.

Available_Time_Period:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 1979

Beginning_Time: unknown

Ending_Date: Present

Ending_Time: unknown

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20080219

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Brost, Beth

Contact_Organization:

FWC-FWRI (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission - Fish and Wildlife Research Institute)

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

Address: 100 Eighth Avenue Southeast

City: St. Petersburg

State_or_Province: FL

Postal_Code: 33701-5095

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 727-896-8626

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 727-823-0166

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: metadata@MyFWC.com

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

Metadata_Time_Convention: local time

Metadata_Use_Constraints:

All data must be credited to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

Metadata_Extensions:

Online_Linkage: <http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html>

Profile_Name: ESRI Metadata Profile