1 Million Turtles Community Conservation Program
Why Turtles need to nest on land
Female turtles emerge from the water during the nesting season (Spring for most species in southern Australia) and walk for some distance. Most are looking for the highest point in an open area so their eggs can avoid floods and be kept warm by the afternoon sun. Once they find their spot, they will use their back legs to dig a hole about 10-20cm deep. Their eggs are often eaten by predators like introduced foxes. It is a great opportunity to watch them in their natural environment.
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more about the turtle nests
The Hole
For the eggs to survive and have a chance of hatching, turtles must lay their eggs in soil and sand. The hole is well constructed and open. Low vegetation with a good root system is key because the sun will warm the eggs and the nest structure won't collapse with lots of rain
Eggs Breathe
As they are developing, the embryos breathe air through a membrane in the eggs, and so they cannot survive if they are continuously covered with water.
Finishing Up
Once the female is done, she will carefully place soil over the top of the hole and then pat it down by lifting up and thumping it with her plastron (the bottom of her shell). She will then leave and the hatchling will emerge several months later. In some species, they will remain underground for over a year.
There is always one oddball!
There is one turtles that nests underwater
Northern long-necked turtles create their nests underwater at the end of the wet season in northern Australia. Embryonic development remains arrested until floodwaters recede in the dry season and the ground dries. Hatchling emergence presumably coincides with heavy rain or flooding at the beginning of the following wet season.
Predicting where they nest
Power of Citizen Science
Citizen Science Data Based Solutions
Power of Citizen Science
Close to 16,000 records have been recorded via the TurtleSAT App. Citizen Science at its finest!
Using remote sensing (satellites), we have been able to characterise their preferred habitats - which is what you will see in this predictive tool.
Modelling Preference
Citizen Science Data Based Solutions
Power of Citizen Science
Turtles throughout the world are driven by similar environmental factors when they nest. Rain and the preference for open nest sites.
Remote sensing techniques characterise the land below by measuring changes in reflection as it passes over vegetation. Grass has different photosynthetic qualities than woodlands etc.
Citizen Science Data Based Solutions
Citizen Science Data Based Solutions
Citizen Science Data Based Solutions
Using Ecocommons and Google Earth Engine we were able to statistically compare vegetation around turtle nests to random points throughout the region.
You can see in the above graph that turtle nested in a very narrow range of vegetation reflectance values. We can now use this to find other regions across the country with similar vegetation qualities.
Nesting sites & wetlands
Using tool for managing fauna
Using tool for managing fauna
You can see that predicted nest sites are in areas where some of the highest abundances of wetlands occur throughout Australia. But the tool is more complex than that.
Using tool for managing fauna
Using tool for managing fauna
Using tool for managing fauna
This is Perth. Perth in general is not suitable for nesting for turtles, but if you zoom in, you can see vegetation oases throughout suburbia. A very important tool for managing our native fauna in these areas.
We want to hear from you!
Using tool for managing fauna
We want to hear from you!
We encourage you to try out this tool and if you have any questions or would love to give us some feedback - well, we love to hear from you!
Next Spring, we will also be asking all Citizen Scientists to target these areas to help refine and validate the models.
