Literaturdatenbank
Literaturdatenbank |
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Claussen, D. L., Daniel, P. M., Jiang, S., & Adams, N. A. (1991). Hibernation in the eastern box turtle, terrapene c. carolina. Journal of Herpetology, 25(3), 334–341.
Added by: Admin (23 Aug 2008 19:57:53 UTC) Last edited by: Beate Pfau (23 Dec 2009 08:36:06 UTC) |
| Resource type: Journal Article BibTeX citation key: Claussen1991 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Emydidae, Habitat = habitat, Nordamerika = North America, Physiologie = physiology, Schildkröten = turtles + tortoises, Terrapene, Terrapene carolina Creators: Adams, Claussen, Daniel, Jiang Collection: Journal of Herpetology |
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| Abstract |
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Terrapene carolina Sub-zero winter air temperatures are common throughout much of the geographic range of Terrapene c. carolina. To examine the consequences of such conditions, we monitored microhabitat and body temperatures of box turtles in southwestern Ohio over three hibernal seasons. A simulated hibernaculum was constructed and monitored over three seasons to further explore the potential exposure of these turtles to freezing conditions. We obtained multi-year field data for three turtles and single-season data for seven others. All of our turtles hibernated in the woods and all survived hibernation. The depth of hibernacula beneath the soil was variable but never exceeded 14 cm, and averaged only 4-5 cm. The amount of leaf litter varied, but averaged about 8 cm. Snow cover was uncommon, sparse, and ephemeral. The duration of hibernation averaged 142 d and showed no significant annual variation. Some turtles moved to a new hibernation site early or late in the hibernal season, but most did not. The weather pattern varied from year to year, but no winter was atypically severe. Body temperatures approximated, but were sometimes lower than, adjacent soil temperatures. In spite of the considerable insulation provided by the cover of leaf litter, some box turtles experienced body temperatures of -0.3 C or below during each winter of our study. Although freezing can be a significant contributor to winter mortality, these composite data suggest that body freezing is neither a rare nor necessarily a lethal event in the life history of T. carolina. Added by: Admin Last edited by: Beate Pfau |