When/how can we use nest counts to monitor demographic changes in freshwater turtles?
Use of nest counts for monitoring changes in freshwater turtle populations has been debated (
Article A Plea to Redirect and Evaluate Conservation Programs for So...
). Yet there can be strong correlations between counts of nests and adult females ( Figure 3 here:Article Bases para el manejo de la tortuga de río Podocnemis unifili...
) .When is it possible/appropriate to use nest counts to monitor demographic changes in freshwater turtle populations?
For example:
if the number of nests declines over time in the same area it is safe to assume that the population is declining.
If the number of nests increases can this reflect population increase? As females become older they may lay more nests. So to use nests as measure, we need to know the number of nests, eggs per nest and size of eggs (larger turtles lay larger eggs on average)....???
Thanks Abhijit Mitra are you able to share any published examples that show specifically where the imperfections can arise in freshwater turtles (particularly tropical species)?
Many researcher uses to monitor the nest counts as morning and evening time.
Thanks Santosh Singh . Yes different methods have different issues in detectability that must be considered in the survey design and subsequent analysis.
I was thinking more about - if the number of nests declines over time in the same area it is safe to assume that the population is declining.
If the number of nests increases can this reflect population increase? As females become older they may lay more nests. So to use nests as measure, we need to know the number of nests, eggs per nest and size of eggs (larger turtles lay larger eggs on average)....
may be this paper can give some views but this paper will publish around November 2019.
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