Nest-site Fidelity in American Alligators in a Louisiana Coastal Marsh

Autor:	Ruth M. Elsey, Phillip L. Trosclair, Travis C. Glenn
Rok vydání:	2008
Předmět:	geography Marsh geography.geographical_feature_category biology Ecology media_common.quotation_subject Alligator Storm surge Fidelity biology.organism_classification Nest Habitat biology.animal Nesting (computing) American alligator Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics media_common
Zdroj:	Southeastern Naturalist. 7:737-743
ISSN:	1938-5412 1528-7092
DOI:	10.1656/1528-7092-7.4.737
Popis:	Little is known about nest-site fidelity in wild Alligator mississippiensis (American Alligator). As part of a long-term study on multiple paternity and mate fidelity that required capture and marking of nesting female alligators, we documented several instances of nest-site reuse by individual females. In one case, the female nested at the same site seven years after initial capture, demonstrating long-term nest-site fidelity. Another female used one nest site in 2000, 2002, and 2004. Herein, we provide data on minimum nesting intervals for recaptured alligators, including three cases of females nesting in two consecutive years. Despite tremendous habitat alteration and storm surge from Hurricane Rita in 2005 and a catastrophic drought precluding nesting in 2006, we found female alligators in 2007 at nests within 20 m and 170 m of their nest sites from seven years and three years, respectively, prior to those events.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::01573a2af1c7792cf68fc22f29457ff7 https://doi.org/10.1656/1528-7092-7.4.737 Zobrazit plný text záznamu Plný text ve formátu PDF