Quando menos é mais: delineamento amostral como garantia da continuidade da coleta de dados reprodutivos de tartarugas marinhas a longo prazo

Abstract

TAMAR was created in 1980 as an initiative of the Brazilian government to recovery five species of sea turtles that occur in Brazilian coast. The three research stations created to protect the nesting beaches have expanded over time. Actually about 620 kilometers of nesting beaches considered priority for conservation of sea turtles in Brazil are monitored regularly. Since the beginning, the data about the occurrence of turtles are collected in a systematic and standard way, building a solid and consistent database, temporally and spatially. In 2006 the data collected by TAMAR were gathered in an interactive and secure platform, the SITAMAR (Sea turtles Information System). This pattern of data collection and storage, together with the spatial and temporal coverage, can characterize the TAMAR as a Long Term Ecological Research Program. One of the difficulties inherent to this type of research program is its long-term maintenance. The beginning of recovery of sea turtle populations observed in Brazil, reflected in the increase trends in the number of record and projected number of nests, make impossible to collect data from sea turtles nests using the standard methodology. In 2012 was developed a Sampling Plan, implemented in 339 km of nesting beaches located in the northeast coast of Bahia and Sergipe, considered priority for conservation of the Caretta caretta, Eretmochelys imbricata and Lepidochelys olivacea. It was developed based on long-term data analysis and the expertise of all involved in the process of collection and use of data. This Sampling Plan was effective to reduce the field work, but ensuring the data quality. The data collected under this Sampling Plan was used in several analyzes, showing the ability to detect trends and changes in the defined parameters. The continuity of long-term data collection is guaranteed by the sustainability program created by TAMAR, ensuring financial resources for conservation actions, directly responsible for data collection. The next challenge is the adaptation and implementation of the Sampling Plan to the others nesting beaches considered priority sea turtles conservation in Brazil.