Hatching Success of Original and Hatchery Nests of the Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas, in Northern Cyprus

This paper provides information on the relation of abiotic factors (moisture content, nest depth, distance of nest from the sea and distance from vegetation) and a biotic factor (clutch size) with the hatching success of green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, in original nests and hatcheries in Northern Cyprus. A hundred and twenty-nine randomly selected clutches (67 original and 62 hatchery) were examined. First, original and hatchery nests were tested separately and none of the factors were found to be associated with hatching success. Since no differences were detected between the original and hatchery nests in terms of hatching success, both were pooled and tested with general linear models (GLMs) by taking locality and nest type as categorical predictors. Accordingly, moisture was found to be associated with the hatching success (F = 5.02; P < 0.05) of green turtles in Northern Cyprus. However, R-squared statistics indicate that the model fitted explains 26% of the variability in hatching success. The correlation coefficient equals -0.30, indicating a relatively weak relationship between variables.

Hatching Success of Original and Hatchery Nests of the Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas, in Northern Cyprus

Keywords:

Chelonia mydas, hatching success, nest hatchery, Northern Cyprus,

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