Influence of Varying Sand Albedo on Sea Turtle Nest Depth Temperatures Mackenna Jensen Faculty mentor: Sandra Gilchrist New College of Florida
Sea turtles are sexually determined by temperature and see higher ratios of females produced with warmer temperatures. Albedo—the reflection of radiation by a surface—plays an important role in sand temperatures of nesting beaches, however, the specific variation necessary to alter nest temperatures has not been well investigated. By setting up individual samples, when the first 20 cm of sand largely varies in albedo, the surfaces, heated by solar radiation and convection, were significantly different (p < 0.05), but sand depths heated through diffusion, left depths of 20 cm and 50 cm statistically similar in temperature. It was also determined that surface temperatures predicted sand depth temperatures stronger than air temperature did. These data support the notion that minor changes to surface sand albedo through nourishments or weather events would not likely alter sea turtle nest temperatures significantly.
Mackenna Jensen is from Norwalk, Ohio and is finishing up an undergraduate degree in Marine Biology. Jensen will be pursuing marine conservation and community education after graduation.
