Nesting Dynamics in Space and Time in a Population Complex of Blanding's Turtle in Nova Scotia

Based on a long-term dataset, this paper is part of a series exploring the influence of environmental spatial and temporal heterogeneity on reproduction, recruitment, survival, and movement of Emydoidea blandingii (Blanding's Turtle) in Nova Scotia, at the northeastern limit of the species' range. This population complex comprises 4 geographically discrete and genetically distinguishable subpopulations that vary in morphology, reproduction, and behavior. This variation may reflect different local environments and evolutionary histories and underscores the importance of understanding ecological scale(s) to ensure that we adopt appropriate management scale(s) for this endangered population. Here we compare clutch size, nesting frequency, dates of nesting and emergence, incubation period, hatching success, and recruitment over 20 years of nest monitoring and protection between 3 of the 4 subpopulations. While nesting frequency was similar across all 3, dates of nesting and emergence, incubation period, and hatching success varied. Clutch size varied with both body size and subpopulation. Despite considerable interannual variation, average dates of nesting and emergence in the 3 subpopulations over the 20-year period were ∼6–10 days earlier and ∼12–18 days earlier, respectively, consistent with a climate change-induced signal.