The Influence of Maternal Size on the Eggs and Hatchlings of Loggerhead Sea Turtles
| Autor: | Anne Marie LeBlanc, Kristina L. Williams, K. Kristina Drake, Debra E. Barnard-Keinath, David C. Rostal, Michael G. Frick, John R. Robinette |
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| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: |
Avian clutch size
education.field_of_study Ecology Population Zoology Biology biology.organism_classification Individual level Loggerhead sea turtle embryonic structures Wildlife refuge Clutch education Nesting season human activities Hatchling reproductive and urinary physiology Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics |
| Zdroj: | Southeastern Naturalist. 13:587 |
| ISSN: | 1528-7092 |
| DOI: | 10.1656/058.013.0318 |
| Popis: | Our study examined variation in and correlation of reproductive traits for a population of Caretta caretta (Loggerhead Sea Turtle) nesting in Georgia and compared the results with those of other studies. We assessed variability in reproductive traits (i.e., maternal length, clutch size, egg diameter, egg mass, hatchling length, and hatchling mass) on the population level and individual level. At the population level, we investigated interannual and intraseasonal variation of these traits for 810 Loggerhead Sea Turtle nests in Georgia, on Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and Blackbeard Island NWR during 2000–2003 and 2001–2003, respectively. As the nesting season progressed, we observed a decrease in clutch size, mean egg diameter, mean egg mass per clutch, mean hatchling length per clutch, and mean hatchling mass per clutch. Further, we measured all previously mentioned traits on a subset of the female turtles encountered on the beach (n = 24) and used these data to examine the variability o... |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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