Barboza Rafael Sa Leitao, Correia Jozelia Maria de Sousa, Souto Antonio, Schiel Nicola
Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco - UFRPE.
Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Anfíbios e Répte is- LIAR.
Anim Welf. 2024 Nov 27;33:e56. doi: 10.1017/awf.2024.60. eCollection 2024.
The successful survival of crocodilian hatchlings is largely dependent upon nest care by females. Nonetheless, it is crucial to understand how environmental degradation affects nest site selection and parental behaviour in female crocodilians. Therefore, our objective was to evaluate the relationship between anthropogenic disturbances and nesting behaviour in free-living broad-snouted caiman (). We compared nests in a disturbed and a non-disturbed area, and anticipated differences in nest density, hatching success, female size, egg number and biomass, and parental care behaviour. We monitored 44 nests over four years in Brazil, covering 58.25 km, in a disturbed area (n = 8) and a non-disturbed area (n = 36). According to our findings, nest density was significantly higher in the non-disturbed area (1.31 nests per linear km) compared to the disturbed area (0.25 nests per linear km). However, there was a significantly higher frequency of parental care behaviour (86%) in the disturbed area compared to the non-disturbed area (34%). The other factors studied showed no statistical difference between the two areas. The results indicate that females prefer to nest in healthier, preserved environments, away from anthropogenic disturbances. Yet, presumably at the cost of extra energy expenditure, increased parental care appears to buffer against a reduction in hatching success. Despite the behavioural buffer, the clear preference for non-disturbed nesting and nursery locations underscores the need to identify and protect the remaining non-disturbed areas inhabited by these animals. Our findings suggest that these measures should positively impact the welfare and protection of and other crocodilian species.
鳄鱼幼崽的成功存活很大程度上依赖于雌性的巢穴照料。尽管如此，了解环境退化如何影响雌性鳄鱼的巢穴选址和亲代行为至关重要。因此，我们的目标是评估人为干扰与自由生活的宽吻凯门鳄筑巢行为之间的关系。我们比较了一个受干扰地区和一个未受干扰地区的巢穴，并预期在巢穴密度、孵化成功率、雌性体型、卵的数量和生物量以及亲代照料行为方面存在差异。我们在巴西对44个巢穴进行了为期四年的监测，覆盖面积达58.25公里，其中包括一个受干扰地区（n = 8）和一个未受干扰地区（n = 36）。根据我们的研究结果，未受干扰地区的巢穴密度（每线性公里1.31个巢穴）显著高于受干扰地区（每线性公里0.25个巢穴）。然而，与未受干扰地区（34%）相比，受干扰地区亲代照料行为的频率显著更高（86%）。所研究的其他因素在两个地区之间没有显示出统计学差异。结果表明，雌性更喜欢在更健康、未受破坏的环境中筑巢，远离人为干扰。然而，增加的亲代照料行为似乎是以额外的能量消耗为代价，来缓冲孵化成功率的降低。尽管有行为缓冲，但对未受干扰的筑巢和育幼地点的明显偏好强调了识别和保护这些动物所栖息的剩余未受干扰地区的必要性。我们的研究结果表明，这些措施应该会对宽吻凯门鳄和其他鳄鱼物种的福利和保护产生积极影响。
