The value of satellite tracking across multiple years to identify key areas for conservation

While satellite tracking is widely used to identify areas of particular conservation importance, whether there is a need to continue tag deployments across many years is unclear. We show that the destinations of migrating animals from the same breeding population may differ significantly across years, and hence we highlight the value of multi-year tracking studies. Between 2012 and 2024, we used Fastloc-GPS Argos and Iridium tags to track 58 green turtles (Chelonia mydas) from their nesting sites in the Chagos Archipelago. If tracking had taken place in a single year, the number of countries used as foraging destinations could have been hugely underestimated (n = 1 country in 2024 versus 7 countries used across years). Overall, 47 % of tracked individuals foraged in the Seychelles, which likely hosts hundreds of thousands of foraging turtles across age-classes. Further, the importance of foraging in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJs) was only revealed by tracking across years. A..., For further details regarding transmitter attachment and data filtering, see the Methods section in the associated paper \"The value of satellite tracking across multiple years to identify key areas for conservation,\" Stokes et al. (2025).
, ## README file for:

# Data from: The value of satellite tracking across multiple years to identify key areas for conservation

## Methods

Fifty-eight green turtles (*Chelonia mydas*) were satellite-tracked following nest deposition on Diego Garcia, Chagos Archipelago, to their foraging grounds around the Western Indian Ocean. Fifty-five of these were tracked using Fastloc-GPS transmitted via the Argos satellite system. One further track failed to transmit any Fastloc-GPS positions but had sufficient high-quality Argos location data (classes 3, 2, 1) to be included. Two were tracked via the Iridium satellite system. The three data types are included as three separate files as named below, with the ID field indicating each individual turtle.

### List of files:

* Chagos_green_turtles_2012_2024_FastlocGPS_n55.csv
* Chagos_green_turtles_2015_Argos_n1.csv
* Chagos_green_turtles_2023_Iridium_n2.csv

### List of fields:

* ID: indicates each individual green turtle
* YearDeployed: the year ...,

尽管卫星追踪已被广泛用于识别具有特殊保护价值的区域，但是否需要连续多年开展标记部署仍尚不明确。本研究表明，同一繁殖种群的洄游动物的觅食目的地可能在不同年份间存在显著差异，据此我们强调了多年期追踪研究的重要价值。

2012年至2024年间，我们借助Fastloc-GPS Argos标记与铱星（Iridium）标记，对来自查戈斯群岛（Chagos Archipelago）筑巢地的58只绿海龟（*Chelonia mydas*）开展了追踪。若仅在单一年份开展追踪，作为觅食目的地的国家数量将被严重低估（2024年仅记录到1个国家，而多年间共记录到7个国家）。总体而言，47%的被追踪个体在塞舌尔（Seychelles）觅食，该区域可能栖息着数十万不同年龄层的觅食海龟。此外，仅通过多年期追踪才揭示出在国家管辖范围以外区域（areas beyond national jurisdiction, ABNJ）觅食的重要性。（原文此处内容缺失）有关发射器安装与数据过滤的更多细节，请参阅关联论文"The value of satellite tracking across multiple years to identify key areas for conservation"（Stokes等，2025）中的方法部分。

## 数据集说明文件
# 数据集来源：《多年期卫星追踪对识别关键保护区域的价值》

## 研究方法
我们对在查戈斯群岛迭戈加西亚岛筑巢产卵后的58只绿海龟（*Chelonia mydas*）开展了卫星追踪，直至它们抵达西印度洋周边的觅食地。其中55只通过Argos卫星系统传输的Fastloc-GPS标记完成追踪；另有1个追踪记录未传输任何Fastloc-GPS定位数据，但具备足够高质量的Argos定位数据（等级3、2、1），故予以纳入；剩余2只通过铱星（Iridium）卫星系统完成追踪。三类数据分别以三个独立文件存储，命名规则如下，其中ID字段用于标识每只个体海龟。

### 文件列表：
* Chagos_green_turtles_2012_2024_FastlocGPS_n55.csv
* Chagos_green_turtles_2015_Argos_n1.csv
* Chagos_green_turtles_2023_Iridium_n2.csv

### 字段说明：
* ID：用于标识每只绿海龟个体
* YearDeployed：追踪部署年份……