Literaturdatenbank
Literaturdatenbank |
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Platt, S. G., Hall, C., Liu, H., & Borg, C. K. (2009). Wet-season food habits and intersexual dietary overlap of florida box turtles (terrapene carolina bauri) on national key deer wildlife refuge, florida. Southeastern Naturalist, 8(2), 335–346.
Added by: Admin (13 Sep 2009 10:11:21 UTC) |
| Resource type: Journal Article BibTeX citation key: Platt2009 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Emydidae, Ernährung = nutrition, Habitat = habitat, Nordamerika = North America, Schildkröten = turtles + tortoises, Terrapene, Terrapene carolina Creators: Borg, Hall, Liu, Platt Collection: Southeastern Naturalist |
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| Abstract |
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We studied the wet-season food habits of adult Terrapene carolina bauri (Florida Box Turtles) on National Key Deer Wildlife Refuge, Big Pine Key, FL. Feces were collected from 112 Box Turtles (64 females, 48 males) and analyzed to determine diet. Based on percent occurrence (number of samples in which a particular dietary item occurs divided by the sample size), terrestrial gastropods and fleshy fruits were the principal foods consumed. Lesser amounts of leafy vegetation were recovered, whereas insects and other invertebrates, vertebrates (most likely consumed as carrion), and fungi composed a minor portion of the diet. The occurrence of deer feces in a single scat constitutes the first report of coprophagy by box turtles. Our fecal analysis provided little evidence of dietary specialization by either sex, which is consistent with earlier descriptions of box turtles as generalist omnivores. Male Florida Box Turtles were significantly larger than females, but there was no indication that larger body size in males provides access to an expanded resource base; the near-complete dietary overlap between the sexes suggests they consume the same foods.
Added by: Admin |