Seasonal, environmental and anthropogenic influences on nocturnal basking in turtles and crocodiles from North-Eastern Australia
Nordberg, Eric J., and McKnight, Donald T. (2023) Seasonal, environmental and anthropogenic influences on nocturnal basking in turtles and crocodiles from North-Eastern Australia. Austral Ecology, 48 (8). pp. 1516-1531.
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Abstract
Many ectotherms bask in the sun as a behavioural mechanism to increase body temperature and facilitate metabolism, digestion or gamete production, among other functions. Such behaviours are common during the day, but some nocturnal species are also known to thermoregulate at night, in the absence of solar radiation, through shifts in body posture or microhabitat selection. Additionally, recent work has documented nocturnal basking in freshwater turtles in tropical Australia, though the purpose of the behaviour remains unknown. Here, we have built upon that work to test: 1. seasonal differences, 2. the influence of environmental factors and 3. the influence of anthropogenic development (e.g. river-front houses) on nocturnal basking behaviour. We visually surveyed transects repeatedly at night on the Ross River, Townsville, QLD, Australia from March to November 2020 and documented nocturnal basking in both freshwater turtles (Emydura macquarii krefftii) and freshwater crocodiles (Crocodylus johnstoni). For both taxa, we found significantly more nocturnal basking activity during the hotter months. Likewise, water surface temperature significantly influenced nocturnal basking in both taxa, especially when water temperatures were both high and warmer than air temperatures. We propose that nocturnal basking provides a mechanism for thermoregulatory cooling when water temperatures are high (e.g. 30°C) and above-preferred temperatures. After accounting for availability in basking habitat, both turtles and crocodiles basked more frequently on the undeveloped side of the river, suggesting avoidance of human activity or disturbance. This study is the first to document nocturnal basking activity temporally throughout the year as well as the first to identify the influences of environmental factors. Nocturnal thermoregulation has been documented in many reptiles, however, thermoregulatory cooling in tropical systems is less well-known.
Item ID: | 78463 |
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Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
ISSN: | 1442-9993 |
Keywords: | ectotherm, moon phase, reptile, thermoregulation, thermoregulatory cooling, tropics |
Copyright Information: | © 2023 The Authors. Austral Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Ecological Society of Australia. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Date Deposited: | 18 Oct 2023 03:49 |
FoR Codes: | 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410401 Conservation and biodiversity @ 100% |
SEO Codes: | 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1899 Other environmental management > 189999 Other environmental management not elsewhere classified @ 100% |
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