|
Activity Number:
|
90
|
|
Type:
|
Contributed
|
|
Date/Time:
|
Monday, August 9, 2004 : 9:00 AM to 10:50 AM
|
|
Sponsor:
|
ENAR
|
| Abstract - #301270 |
|
Title:
|
A Mixed Models Approach to Nest Site Fidelity of Leatherback Turtles at Playa Grande
|
|
Author(s):
|
Eric Nordmoe*+ and Samantha Knapman and Paul Sotherland and James Spotila and Frank Paladino and Richard Reina
|
|
Companies:
|
Kalamazoo College and Kalamazoo College and Kalamazoo College and Drexel University and Indiana-Purdue University and Monash University
|
|
Address:
|
1200 Academy St, Kalamazoo, MI, 49006,
|
|
Keywords:
|
mixed models ; multilevel models ; ecology
|
|
Abstract:
|
This study applies hierarchical linear mixed models to investigate whether observed nesting patterns of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) support the presence of individual heterogeneity in nest site selections. Data were collected on the nest site selection of leatherback turtles at Playa Grande in Parque Nacional Las Baulas, Costa Rica, for eight seasons from 1993-94 to 2000-01. Using these data, models were constructed to describe the nest site selections of leatherbacks along the coastal axis of Playa Grande. Using a mixed model approach, we find small but significant variability in nest site selections both between individuals (P< 0.0001) and within-individual between seasons (P=0.0091). Individual differences between turtles yield estimated model-based intraclass correlations between same-season nest site selections of individual turtles ranging from 0.097 to 0.142 for the eight seasons studied. Similarly, the estimated intraclass correlations between individual nest site selections in different seasons ranged from 0.058 to 0.085. The analysis suggests small but significant between-turtle heterogeneity in nest site preferences.
|
