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Behavioral variation in nesting phenology may offset sex‐ratio bias in tuatara
Author(s) -
Nelson Nicola J.,
Keall Susan N.,
Refsnider Jeanine M.,
Carter Anna L.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of experimental zoology part a: ecological and integrative physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.834
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 2471-5646
pISSN - 2471-5638
DOI - 10.1002/jez.2196
Subject(s) - ecology , biology , nest (protein structural motif) , population , phenology , abiotic component , nesting (process) , habitat , incubation , demography , biochemistry , materials science , sociology , metallurgy
The nest environment for eggs of reptiles has lifelong implications for offspring performance and success, and, ultimately, for population viability and species distributions. However, understanding the various abiotic and biotic drivers of nesting is complex, particularly regarding variation in nesting behavior of females and consequences for sex ratios in species with temperature‐dependent sex determination (TSD). We investigated how nest construction and nesting phenology affect the incubation environment of a reptile with TSD, the tuatara ( Sphenodon punctatus ), a species that is at risk from climate‐mediated male bias in population sex ratios. Using longitudinal behavioral data, we addressed the following questions. (1) Does nesting behavior vary with seasonal or location cues? (2) Does variation in nesting phenology or nest construction affect the incubation environment? We aimed to investigate whether female tuatara could modify nesting behavior to respond to novel environments, including a warming climate, allowing for successful incubation and balanced population sex ratios, maintaining population viability throughout their historic range. We predicted that earlier nesting after warm winters increased the likelihood that females will be produced, despite the sex determining system where males are produced from warmer temperatures. Further research is needed to understand the extent to which nesting behavior varies by individual through time, and across the range of tuatara, and the importance of habitat variability in maintaining production of females under future climate warming.