Nest temperature and respiratory gases during natural incubation in the broad-shelled river turtle, Chelodina expansa (Testudinata : Chelidae)

Abstract

Temperature was monitored in three natural nests, and oxygen and carbon dioxide partial pressure monitored in one natural nest of the broad-shelled river turtle, Chelodina expansa, throughout incubation. Nest temperature decreased after nest construction in autumn, remained low during winter and gradually increased in spring to a maximum in summer. In a nest where temperature was recorded every hour, temperature typically fluctuated through a 2°C cycle on a daily basis throughout the entire incubation period, and the nest always heated faster than it cooled. Oxygen and carbon dioxide partial pressures in this nest were similar to soil oxygen and carbon dioxide partial pressures for the first 5 months of incubation, but nest respiratory gas tensions deviated from the surrounding soil over the last three months of incubation. Nest respiratory gas tensions were not greatly different from those in the atmosphere above the ground except after periods of rain. After heavy rain during the last 3 months of incubation the nest became moderately hypoxic (P_O2 ~ 100 Torr) and hypercapnic (P_{CO 2} ~ 50 Torr) for several successive days. These short periods of hypoxia and hypercapnia were not lethal.