Does a lack of juveniles indicate a threat? Understanding body size distributions in a group of long-lived vertebrates.

ABSTRACT: Turtles are declining globally, and absences of juveniles during surveys are often interpreted as evidence of threats to early life stages. In Australia, for example, it is widely argued that a low number of juveniles is likely due to nest predation by introduced red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). However, small sample sizes within populations, low detectability of juveniles and turtles' long lifespans often confound the conclusion that a paucity of juveniles indicates a declining population. Because turtles have long reproductive lifespans, we might intuitively expect most turtle populations to be heavily weighted towards large individuals, but a 'typical' or 'healthy' size distribution for turtle populations has not been well established. Therefore, we collated data on 41,021 freshwater turtles

SUBMITTER: McKnight DT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12484419 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature