Green Turtle Nesting Trend in Florida, 1989-2002

Florida's sea turtle nesting trend data

Loggerhead nesting trend in Florida

Green turtle nesting trend in Florida

Leatherback nesting trend in Florida

Loggerhead nesting trend by grouped index beaches in Florida

Green turtle nesting trend by grouped index beaches in Florida

This plot shows annual green turtle nests counted at core index nesting beaches in Florida during the period 1989-2002 and shows high biennial fluctuations in nest numbers. Because green turtles commonly take a year off between migrations to Florida nesting beaches, it is useful to combine even and odd years in order to assess annual trends in the total population. A regression of log-transformed nesting in combined two-year cohorts reveals a significant upward trend (r=0.93, p=0.002).

Between 1989 and 2002 the annual number of green turtle nests at core index beaches ranged from 267 to 6981. Nesting on these beaches represents approximately 74% of green turtle nesting in the state of Florida.