Offspring dispersal ability covaries with nest-site choice

David M Delaney and Fredric J Janzen

Behavioral Ecology, 2019, vol. 30, issue 1, 125-133

Abstract: Nesting strategy shifts with offspring dispersal ability. In snapping turtles, larger offspring have higher survival than smaller offspring when dispersing long distances. Mothers that produce better dispersing offspring nest farther from water where nest predation risk is lower. Mothers that produce poorer dispersing offspring are constrained to nest closer to water so offspring can successfully disperse if they aren’t eaten first. Thus, accounting for offspring dispersal ability increases offspring survival and maternal fitness.

Keywords: body size; Chelydra serpentina; life-history tradeoff; maternal investment; nesting behavior; performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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