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Vol. 48 No. 1, 2009
Ten Years of Monitoring the Nesting Ecology of the Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas, on Lanyu (Orchid Island), Taiwan
I-Jiunn Cheng1,*, Cheng-Ting Huang2, Po-Yen Hung1, Bo-Zong Ke1, Chao-Wei Kuo1, and Chia-Ling Fong1
1Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 202, Taiwan
2Department of Aquaculture, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 202, Taiwan
I-Jiunn Cheng, Cheng-Ting Huang, Po-Yen Hung, Bo-Zong Ke, Chao-Wei Kuo, and Chia-Ling Fong (2009) We report on the nesting ecology and environmental parameters of one of the largest green turtle, Chelonia mydas,
rookery nesting site in Taiwan: Lanyu (Orchid I.), Taitung County,
southeastern Taiwan. The site was studied from 1997 to
2006. Results showed that although turtles nest year-round, the
main nesting season occurs in the warm and dry summer. Green
turtles were forced to nest on the smallest beach, where anthropogenic
disturbances were relatively low. The warm surface-water
temperature tends to result in shorter inter-nesting intervals.
Fewer nesters in poor nesting years were found to lay fewer
clutches. The relatively wet and cooler weather and firm sand on
Lanyu tends to increase the substratum compactness, resulting in
relatively shallow nests. Larger females tended to deposit larger
clutch sizes. Precipitation may be responsible for increased
hatching mortality. The morphological characters of the
hatchlings were found to be influenced by the egg characters.
Although the population size of the study area is small, studies of the
nesting ecology and conservation measures are still important to the
regional population status, especially in the Asian region where most
populations are either severely depleted and/or poorly understood.
Key words: Chelonia mydas, Lanyu, Nesting ecology, Taiwan, Green turtle.
*Correspondence: Tel: 886-2-24622192 ext. 5303. Fax: 886-2-24648972. E-mail:b0107@mail.ntou.edu.tw
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