Abstract
Sand and nest temperatures were monitored during the 2002–2003 nesting season of the green turtle, Chelonia mydas, at Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Sand temperatures increased from ∼ 24°C early in the season to 27–29°C in the middle, before decreasing again. Beach orientation affected sand temperature at nest depth throughout the season; the north facing beach remained 0.7°C warmer than the east, which was 0.9°C warmer than the south, but monitored nest temperatures were similar across all beaches. Sand temperature at 100 cm depth was cooler than at 40 cm early in the season, but this reversed at the end. Nest temperatures increased 2–4°C above sand temperatures during the later half of incubation due to metabolic heating. Hatchling sex ratio inferred from nest temperature profiles indicated a strong female bias.
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Acknowledgments
We thank two reviewers and the editorial staff at Coral Reefs for suggesting many improvements and for statistical advice. We thank the staff of Heron Island Research Station for logistical assistance and for meteorological data. This work was carried out under the University of Queensland Animal Ethics Approval Number ZOO/ENT/231/02/URG/H and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Scientific Purposes Permit WITK00399002.
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Booth, D.T., Freeman, C. Sand and nest temperatures and an estimate of hatchling sex ratio from the Heron Island green turtle (Chelonia mydas) rookery, Southern Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 25, 629–633 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-006-0135-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-006-0135-4