Life history and environmental requirements of loggerhead turtles
In the United States scattered nestings of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) may occur in most of its range from Texas to Florida and Florida to New Jersey; however, nesting concentrations occur on coastal islands of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia and on the coasts of Florida. The greatest portion of a loggerhead's life is spent in ocean and estuarine waters where it breeds in shallow waters adjacent to nesting beaches, feeds on a variety of fish and shellfish, and migrates generally north in the spring and summer and south in the fall and winter. The other part of its life is spent on coastal beaches where the female digs a nest, lays her eggs (average 120 eggs), the eggs hatch (in 46 to 65 days), and the hatchlings emerge from the nest as a group and orient seaward to become part of the aquatic system again. Nesting activity begins in the spring, peaks in midsummer, and declines until completion in late summer. A loggerhead female generally nests every other or every third year. Beach sand temperatures may affect nest site selection by females, the incubation time and hatching success of eggs, and the sex and emergence timing of hatchlings. Most management of sea turtles has been directed toward increasing hatching and hatchling success through predator control, egg relocation, and raising captive hatchlings. 183 refs.; 10 figs.; 3 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS (USA). Environmental Lab.
- OSTI ID:
- 6865180
- Report Number(s):
- TR-EL-86-2-Rev./88(23); ON: TI89000490
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ANIMAL BREEDING
OPTIMIZATION
TURTLES
LIFE CYCLE
ALABAMA
CONTAMINATION
EGGS
FEEDING
FLORIDA
GEORGIA
HATCHING
MIGRATION
MISSISSIPPI
MORTALITY
NORTH CAROLINA
PREDATOR-PREY INTERACTIONS
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
SEAS
SOUTH CAROLINA
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TEXAS
ANIMALS
FEDERAL REGION IV
FEDERAL REGION VI
MANAGEMENT
NORTH AMERICA
REPTILES
SURFACE WATERS
USA
VERTEBRATES
520100* - Environment
Aquatic- Basic Studies- (-1989)
520500 - Environment
Aquatic- Site Resource & Use Studies- (-1989)