Estimating the sex ratio of green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Taiwan by the nest temperature and histological methods

    Authors

    R. King; W. H. Cheng; C. T. Tseng; H. C. Chen;I. J. Cheng

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

    Keywords

    Green sea turtle; Hatchling sex ratio; Histological method; Nest; temperature; Nesting islands; WAN-AN ISLAND; LOGGERHEAD TURTLES; CARETTA-CARETTA; CLIMATE-CHANGE; INCUBATION TEMPERATURES; SATELLITE TELEMETRY; PIVOTAL TEMPERATURE; THERMAL CONDITIONS; MARINE TURTLES; BEACHES; Ecology; Marine & Freshwater Biology

    Abstract

    Sex ratio is an important population characteristic. It is especially important for endangered species with temperature-dependent sex determination, such as sea turtles. As turtle sex ratio at hatching is primarily influenced by the environmental temperature, the ability to estimate sex ratio is crucial to the success of conservation measures. Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) are the only sea turtles that nest in Taiwan. Despite much regional research on the ecology of this species, the sex ratio has not yet been determined in Taiwan. We combined measures of nest temperature during the thermally sensitive period with a histological method to estimate the hatchling sex ratio from three nesting islands in Taiwan from 2010 to 2011. We determined that the sex ratios for green turtle populations in Taiwan were female biased during the study period. In line with that overall trend, Wan-an Island with drier and hotter weather during the nesting season, produced more female hatchlings than the other main nesting island-Lanyu Island. Results of this study stress that differences in sex ratio are important to consider when developing conservation strategies, even among closely located sites such as Wan-an and Lanyu Islands. This is the first study of the hatchling sex ratio of green sea turtles in the East Asian region. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

    Volume

    445

    Publication Date

    1-1-2013

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    140

    Last Page

    147

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000320895500018

    ISSN

    0022-0981

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