Vol. 20 No. 1 (2025)
Articles

Can artificial rearing benefit the natural breeding of European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) in its northern distribution range?

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  • Vytautas Rakauskas,
  • Kristė Stravinskaitė,
  • Rasa Jautakienė,
  • Jonas Šimkus,
  • Inga Čitavičienė,
  • Alma Pikunienė,
  • Gintarė Stankevičė,
  • Eglė Šidagytė-Copilas
Vytautas Rakauskas
Laboratory of Fish Ecology, State Scientific Research Institute Nature Research Centre, Verkiu str. 98, LT-12201 Vilnius, Lithuania
Kristė Stravinskaitė
Lithuanian Zoological Gardens, Radvilėnu rd. 21, LT-50299 Kaunas, Lithuania
Rasa Jautakienė
Lithuanian Zoological Gardens, Radvilėnu rd. 21, LT-50299 Kaunas, Lithuania
Jonas Šimkus
Lithuanian Zoological Gardens, Radvilėnu rd. 21, LT-50299 Kaunas, Lithuania
Inga Čitavičienė
Meteliai Regional Park Directorate, Kampeliu str. 10, Aleknoniu v., LT-64351, Alytus r., Lithuania
Alma Pikunienė
Lithuanian Zoological Gardens, Radvilėnu rd. 21, LT-50299 Kaunas, Lithuania
Gintarė Stankevičė
Lithuanian Zoological Gardens, Radvilėnu rd. 21, LT-50299 Kaunas, Lithuania
Eglė Šidagytė-Copilas
Laboratory of Evolutionary Ecology of Hydrobionts, Nature Research Centre, Akademijos str. 2, LT-12201 Vilnius, Lithuania
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-16266

Published 2025-05-06

Keywords

  • Turtle conservation,
  • nesting ecology,
  • Natura 2000

How to Cite

Rakauskas, V., Stravinskaitė, K., Jautakienė, R., Šimkus, J., Čitavičienė, I., Pikunienė, A., Stankevičė, G., & Šidagytė-Copilas, E. (2025). Can artificial rearing benefit the natural breeding of European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) in its northern distribution range?. Acta Herpetologica, 20(1), 17–28. https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-16266

Copyright (c) 2025 Vytautas Rakauskas, Kristė Stravinskaitė, Rasa Jautakienė, Jonas Šimkus, Inga Čitavičienė, Alma Pikunienė, Gintarė Stankevičė, Eglė Šidagytė-Copilas

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

The European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) is a protected and endangered species in Europe experiencing a drastic demographic decrease over most of its range. In Lithuania, at its northern distribution range, E. orbicularis populations are small and fragmented, making them highly vulnerable to decline and deserving of active protection measures. The main reasons for the decrease in E. orbicularis populations are habitat loss due to changes in land use and the destruction of nesting sites. The survival of healthy E. orbicularis populations depends on the survival of eggs and the first overwintering of hatchlings. The aim of this study was to compare the hatching success of naturally vs artificially incubated E. orbicularis eggs and further artificially reared hatchling survival during their first year. We also provided an overview of the main nesting measurements, including clutch size and depth, from the small E. orbicularis populations in Lithuania. Finally, we furnished detailed descriptions of the artificial egg incubation and subsequent hatchling-rearing methodologies that can be used to preserve and increase the size of local small E. orbicularis populations in their northern distribution range.

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