Logo image
Hatching Success and Other Reproductive Attributes of Gopher Tortoises in Southwest Georgia
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Hatching Success and Other Reproductive Attributes of Gopher Tortoises in Southwest Georgia

Thomas A Radzio, James A Cox and Michael P O'Connor
Chelonian conservation and biology, v 16(1)
Jun 2017
url
https://doi.org/10.2744/CCB-1166.1View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Notes and Field Reports
Broad variation in egg hatching success observed in gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) populations led us to investigate hatching success and other reproductive attributes within a unique, high-quality site in the eastern portion of the species' range. We documented use of a juvenile tortoise burrow as a nest site, a mean clutch size of 5.9 eggs, long oviposition-to-hatchling emergence times (96–128 d), and 73% hatching success for predator-protected eggs. Although consistent with previous reports of greater hatching success in eastern gopher tortoise populations than in western ones, hatching success at our eastern site was on the low end of values from other eastern populations, possibly reflecting above average rainfall during this study.

Metrics

7 Record Views
2 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#15 Life on Land
#13 Climate Action

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Web of Science research areas
Zoology
Logo image