Understanding early reproductive failure in turtles and tortoises

IF 2.8 2区 环境科学与生态学 Q1 BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION Animal Conservation Pub Date : 2024-09-13 DOI:10.1111/acv.12986
A. Lavigne, R. Bullock, N. J. Shah, C. Tagg, A. Zora, N. Hemmings
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Abstract

Turtles and tortoises (Order Testudines) are facing an extinction crisis, and ecosystems are at risk of collapsing with the loss of key roles they play. Hatching failure is a crucial barrier to population growth and persistence, but its causes are poorly understood, and it is unknown whether fertilization rates are declining as many populations become smaller and more female‐biased. Here, we show that very few studies of turtle and tortoise hatching success consider fertilization rates, and those that do use unreliable methods to determine egg fertility. We also show that studies of hatching success are biased towards marine turtles, as opposed to freshwater and terrestrial species, and wild rather than captive populations. To address the lack of reliable methods for assessing fertilization rates in turtles and tortoises, a microscopy‐based method (originally designed for bird eggs) for detecting perivitelline membrane (PVM) bound sperm and embryonic nuclei in the germinal disc of unhatched eggs has been developed and tested (in turtle and tortoise eggs). We demonstrate that this method provides unequivocal evidence of egg fertilization in five different turtle and tortoise species from both captive and wild populations, even after eggs have been left in wild nests for the full incubation period. This methodological approach represents a valuable tool for monitoring egg fertility and embryo survival rates in turtles and tortoises, with the potential to provide important insights into the underlying drivers of reproductive failure in threatened captive and wild populations.

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了解龟和陆龟的早期生殖失败
海龟和陆龟(龟鳖目)正面临着灭绝危机,由于失去了它们的关键作用,生态系统面临崩溃的危险。孵化失败是种群增长和持续存在的一个关键障碍,但人们对其原因知之甚少,也不知道受精率是否随着许多种群变得更小、更偏向于雌性而下降。在这里,我们表明,很少有关于龟类孵化成功率的研究考虑受精率,而那些考虑受精率的研究则使用了不可靠的方法来确定卵子的受精率。我们还表明,对孵化成功率的研究偏重于海龟而非淡水和陆地物种,偏重于野生而非圈养种群。为了解决缺乏可靠方法评估海龟和陆龟受精率的问题,我们开发了一种基于显微镜的方法(最初是为鸟蛋设计的),用于检测未孵化蛋胚盘中与绒毛膜(PVM)结合的精子和胚胎核(在海龟和陆龟蛋中)。我们证明,这种方法可提供明确的证据,证明来自人工饲养和野生种群的五种不同的龟和陆龟的卵受精了,即使卵在野生巢中经过了整个孵化期。这种方法是监测龟和陆龟卵受精率和胚胎存活率的重要工具,有可能为了解受威胁的圈养和野生种群繁殖失败的根本原因提供重要信息。
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来源期刊
Animal Conservation
Animal Conservation 环境科学-生态学
CiteScore
7.50
自引率
5.90%
发文量
71
审稿时长
12-24 weeks
期刊介绍: Animal Conservation provides a forum for rapid publication of novel, peer-reviewed research into the conservation of animal species and their habitats. The focus is on rigorous quantitative studies of an empirical or theoretical nature, which may relate to populations, species or communities and their conservation. We encourage the submission of single-species papers that have clear broader implications for conservation of other species or systems. A central theme is to publish important new ideas of broad interest and with findings that advance the scientific basis of conservation. Subjects covered include population biology, epidemiology, evolutionary ecology, population genetics, biodiversity, biogeography, palaeobiology and conservation economics.
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Issue Information Perilous state of critically endangered Northwest African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki) across the Sudano‐Sahel Human impact and environmental conditions lead to a mass mortality event of David's Myotis (Myotis davidii) in Mongolia Assessing population viability and management strategies for species recovery of the critically endangered Puerto Rican parrot Understanding early reproductive failure in turtles and tortoises
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