The most northeasterly population of wood turtles (Clemmys insculpta ) was studied during 1996 and 1997 in Quebec, Canada. A total of 188 turtles (55 males, 83 females, and 50 immatures) was captured, measured and marked for future identification. The adult sex ratio was not significantly different from 1:1. Males were significantly larger than females for measures of carapace length, 214.5 and 201 mm, respectively. Wood turtles from northern populations are larger than those from southern regions. The population density was estimated to be 0.44 turtles/hectare. Courtship occurred in the spring but was more common in the fall. Nesting occurred in mid-June with nesting activity taking place at all times of the day but more frequently in early morning and evening. Females migrated over 3 km to a nesting area and exhibited nest fidelity. Sixty-six percent of turtles nested in 2 consecutive yr and these females were significantly larger than turtles that nested in only 1 yr of the study. There was no mammalian predation but, some arthropods were suspected of being predators. Mean clutch size was 10.1 (range = 5--20) eggs. Comparisons with other populations of C. insculpta are also made.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.20888 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Walde, Andrew D. |
| Contributors | Titman, Rodger (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Natural Resource Sciences.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001641783, proquestno: MQ44310, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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