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Effects of biotic and abiotic factors on the oxygen content of green sea turtle nests during embryogenesis

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Abstract

Several biotic and abiotic factors can influence nest oxygen content during embryogenesis. Several of these factors were determined during each developmental stage of green sea turtle embryos on Wan-an Island, Penghu Archipelago, Taiwan. We examined oxygen content in 7 nests in 2007 and 11 in 2008. Oxygen in the adjacent sand, total and viable clutch sizes, air, sand and nest temperatures, and sand characters of each nest were also determined. Oxygen content was lower in late stages than in the early and middle stages. It was also lower in the middle layer than in the upper and bottom layers. Nest temperature showed opposite trends, reaching its maximum value in late stages of development. Nest oxygen content was influenced by fraction of viable eggs, total clutch sizes, sand temperatures, maximum nest temperature and maximum change in the nest temperature during incubation. Clutch size during embryogenesis was the most influential factor overall. However, the major influential factors were different for different developmental stages. In the first half of the incubation, the development rate was low, and the change in the nest oxygen content was influenced mainly by the clutch size. During the second half, the rapid embryonic development rate became the dominant factor, and hatchling activities caused even greater oxygen consumption during the last stage of development.

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Acknowledgments

Authors would like to thank Ms. S-W Wang, C-M Chang, H-C Chen and volunteers for their assistance in the field work. Penghu County Government provided necessary administrative assistance that is highly appreciated. Critical and constructive comments from G.C. Hays and anonymous reviewer are deeply appreciated. This work was supported by a grant from Penghu County Government (No. 98H32402), a grant from National Science Council (NSC 97-2611-m-019-003) and I-Mei Environment Protection Foundation to I-J Cheng.

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  1. Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, 202-24, Taiwan, ROC

    Chiu-Lin Chen, Chun-Chun Wang & I-Jiunn Cheng

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  1. Chiu-Lin Chen
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  2. Chun-Chun Wang
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  3. I-Jiunn Cheng
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Correspondence to I-Jiunn Cheng.

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Communicated by G. Heldmaier.

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Chen, CL., Wang, CC. & Cheng, IJ. Effects of biotic and abiotic factors on the oxygen content of green sea turtle nests during embryogenesis. J Comp Physiol B 180, 1045–1055 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-010-0479-5

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