Growing as slow as a turtle: Unexpected maturational differences in a small, long-lived species

PLoS One. 2021 Nov 18;16(11):e0259978. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259978. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Turtle body size is associated with demographic and other traits like mating success, reproductive output, maturity, and survival. As such, growth analyses are valuable for testing life history theory, demographic modeling, and conservation planning. Two important but unsettled research areas relate to growth after maturity and growth rate variation. If individuals exhibit indeterminate growth after maturity, older adults may have an advantage in fecundity, survival, or both over younger/smaller adults. Similarly, depending on how growth varies, a portion of the population may mature earlier, grow larger, or both. We used 23-years of capture-mark-recapture data to study growth and maturity in the Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata), a species suffering severe population declines and for which demographic data are needed for development of effective conservation and management strategies. There was strong support for models incorporating sex as a factor, with the interval growth model reparametrized for capture-mark-recapture data producing later mean maturation estimates than the age-based growth model. We found most individuals (94%) continued growing after maturity, but the instantaneous relative annual plastral growth rate was low. We recommend future studies examine the possible contribution of such slow, continued adult growth to fecundity and survival. Even seemingly negligible amounts of annual adult growth can have demographic consequences affecting the population vital rates for long-lived species.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Body Size
  • Datasets as Topic
  • Female
  • Longevity*
  • Male
  • Models, Biological
  • Sexual Maturation
  • Turtles / growth & development*

Grants and funding

Fieldwork by C. E. was funded by research grants from Sigma Xi, the George Mason University Foundation, and the Department of Biology at George Mason University. The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority funded work on the analysis and publication charges. There was no additional external funding received for this study. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.