ScienceDaily (Nov. 20, 2008) — Turtles nesting along the Mississippi River and other areas are altering their nesting dates in response to rising temperatures, says a researcher from Iowa State University.
Fred Janzen, a professor in ecology, evolution and organismal biology, has studied turtle nesting habits and also accumulated research going back decades in order to track the habits of the turtles to find out when they make nests and lay eggs.
“The results have been astonishing,” says Janzen. “In some cases such as regional populations of red-eared sliders, they are now nesting three weeks earlier than they did in the early 1990s. That is the fastest response to climate change of any species that I know of.”
The turtles that changed their nesting habits were not only young turtles that are nesting for the first time, said Janzen, but were also older turtles that were changing their habits. This trait, called plasticity, helps animals alter their behavior in the short term until inherited behavior takes over Keep Reading
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