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Richard MG, Laroque CP, Herman TB. Relating annual increments of the endangered Blanding's turtle plastron growth to climate. Ecol Evol. 2014;4(10):1972-80doi: 10.1002/ece3.1065.
Richard, M. G., Laroque, C. P., & Herman, T. B. (2014). Relating annual increments of the endangered Blanding's turtle plastron growth to climate. Ecology and evolution, 4(10), 1972-80. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1065
Richard, Monik G, et al. "Relating annual increments of the endangered Blanding's turtle plastron growth to climate." Ecology and evolution vol. 4,10 (2014): 1972-80. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1065
Richard MG, Laroque CP, Herman TB. Relating annual increments of the endangered Blanding's turtle plastron growth to climate. Ecol Evol. 2014 May;4(10):1972-80. doi: 10.1002/ece3.1065. Epub 2014 Apr 22. PMID: 24963390; PMCID: PMC4063489.
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Ecol Evol. 2014 May;4(10):1972-80. doi: 10.1002/ece3.1065. Epub 2014 Apr 22.

Relating annual increments of the endangered Blanding's turtle plastron growth to climate.

Ecology and evolution

Monik G Richard, Colin P Laroque, Thomas B Herman

Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Acadia University 33 Westwood Avenue, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, B4P 2R6.
  2. Department of Soil Science, University of Saskatchewan 51 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 5A8.

PMID: 24963390 PMCID: PMC4063489 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1065

Abstract

This research is the first published study to report a relationship between climate variables and plastron growth increments of turtles, in this case the endangered Nova Scotia Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii). We used techniques and software common to the discipline of dendrochronology to successfully cross-date our growth increment data series, to detrend and average our series of 80 immature Blanding's turtles into one common chronology, and to seek correlations between the chronology and environmental temperature and precipitation variables. Our cross-dated chronology had a series intercorrelation of 0.441 (above 99% confidence interval), an average mean sensitivity of 0.293, and an average unfiltered autocorrelation of 0.377. Our master chronology represented increments from 1975 to 2007 (33 years), with index values ranging from a low of 0.688 in 2006 to a high of 1.303 in 1977. Univariate climate response function analysis on mean monthly air temperature and precipitation values revealed a positive correlation with the previous year's May temperature and current year's August temperature; a negative correlation with the previous year's October temperature; and no significant correlation with precipitation. These techniques for determining growth increment response to environmental variables should be applicable to other turtle species and merit further exploration.

Keywords: Blanding's turtle; Emydoidea blandingii; climate change; dendrochronology; plastron growth increments; temperature

References

  1. Mol Ecol. 1999 Feb;8(2):323-7 - PubMed
  2. Ambio. 2008 Jul;37(5):342-6 - PubMed

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