|
|||||
|
|
Relative vulnerability of female turtles to road mortality |
|
| Authors: | D A Steen M J Aresco S G Beilke B W Compton E P Condon C Kenneth Dodd Jr H Forrester J W Gibbons J L Greene G Johnson T A Langen M J Oldham D N Oxier R A Saumure F W Schueler J M Sleeman L L Smith J K Tucker & J P Gibbs |
| Institution: | Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center, Newton, GA, USA; Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA; The Pacific Northwest Turtle Project, Portland, OR, USA; Department of Natural Resources Conservation, Holdsworth Natural Resources Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA; USGS/Florida Integrated Science Centers, Gainesville, FL, USA; Turtle Rescue of New Jersey, Hardwick, NJ, USA; University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Lab, Aiken, SC, USA; Department of Biology, SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY, USA; Department of Biology, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, USA; Natural Heritage Information Centre, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Peterborough, ON, Canada; Arrowhead Reptile Rescue, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Rehabilitation, Cincinnati, OH, USA; Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Qué, Canada; Bishops Mills Natural History Centre, Bishops Mills, ON, Canada; Wildlife Center of Virginia, Waynesboro, VA, USA; Great Rivers Field Station, Illinois Natural History Survey, Brighton, IL, USA; SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA |
| Abstract: | Recent studies suggest that freshwater turtle populations are becoming increasingly male-biased. A hypothesized cause is a greater vulnerability of female turtles to road mortality. We evaluated this hypothesis by comparing sex ratios from published and unpublished population surveys of turtles conducted on- versus off-roads. Among 38 166 turtles from 157 studies reporting sex ratios, we found a consistently larger female fraction in samples from on-roads (61%) than off-roads (41%). We conclude that female turtles are indeed more likely to cross roadways than are males, which may explain recently reported skewed sex ratios near roadways and signify eventual population declines as females are differentially eliminated. |
| Keywords: | data synthesis highways nesting migrations road mortality reptile roads sex ratio turtles |