Meeting Abstract

P1.10  Thursday, Jan. 3  Hatching success of Diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin) eggs incubated in sand and dredge material CHMURA, HE*; BAKER, PJ; Swarthmore College; Swarthmore College hchmura1@swarthmore.edu

Diamondback terrapins live in the brackish marshes of the Atlantic Coast. During the nesting season, females emerge from the marsh to lay their eggs on high sandy dunes. In coastal New Jersey much of this nesting habitat has been degraded or destroyed. As a result, terrapins nest along busy roads where many are killed. One method to reduce automobile-induced terrapin mortality is to create nesting habitat with material dredged from local waterways. However, it is unknown whether terrapin eggs incubate successfully in this substrate. We collected eggs from natural nests and incubated them in experimental nests constructed of sand (n = 5) or dredge material (n = 5) in the laboratory. We found no significant difference in hatching success between eggs incubated in sand (82.4 %) or dredge (84.6 %). Furthermore, there was no significant difference in mass or carapace length of the resulting hatchlings. These preliminary results suggest that dredge may be a viable material with which to recreate terrapin nesting habitat.