Identifying the drivers of reproductive failure in threatened turtles and tortoises

确定受威胁海龟和陆龟繁殖失败的驱动因素

• 批准号: 2883997
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Sheffield
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2883997
• 关键词: Identifying; drivers; reproductive; failure; threatened

Turtles and tortoises are facing an extinction crisis, and ecosystems are at risk of collapsing with the loss of their crucial functions. Reproductive failure at the egg-stage represents a key barrier to population growth for many species, but little is known about the drivers of this failure, particularly in threatened wild populations. Declining turtle and tortoise reproductive rates have been linked to human activity, both directly via the impacts of disturbance and pollution, and indirectly via global warming. Rising temperatures are causing female-biased sex ratios (due to temperature-specific sex determination), but the implications of this for sperm availability and fertilisation rates is unknown. Similarly, the influence of environmental factors, including anthropogenic activity, on hatching rates of fertilised eggs is poorly understood.Using new methods for accurately distinguishing fertilisation failure from early embryo death in unhatched eggs, this project will combine data on (i) nesting attempts and hatching outcomes, (ii) climatic variables, and (iii) human activity, across multiple populations and locations in a multi-island system, to identify the key drivers of reproductive failure in threatened turtles and tortoises. The project will involve lab and fieldwork, collaboration with external conservation partner organisations, and computer-based work including data analysis using R.

海龟和乌龟正面临着灭绝危机，生态系统面临着失去其关键功能的风险。鸡蛋阶段的生殖失败代表了许多物种人口增长的关键障碍，但对这种失败的驱动因素，尤其是在受威胁的野生种群中知之甚少。乌龟和乌龟生殖率的下降与人类活动有关，直接通过干扰和污染的影响以及通过全球变暖而间接地与人类活动联系在一起。温度升高导致女性偏见的性别比（由于温度特定的性别确定），但是这对精子可用性和受精率的影响尚不清楚。同样，对环境因素的影响，包括人为活性，对受精卵的孵化速率的影响很少了解。使用新的方法来准确区分未接触的卵中的施肥失败与早期胚胎死亡，该项目将结合（i）嵌套尝试和孵化量的筑巢（ii）群体（ii）构成的群体和（ii）的多种多样的人类活动，彼此嵌套的筑巢，并构成多种多样的人类活动。受到威胁的海龟和乌龟的生殖失败的驱动因素。该项目将涉及实验室和实地调查，与外部保护合作伙伴组织的合作以及基于计算机的工作，包括使用R的数据分析。