Preliminary Assessment of Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) Nesting Ecology at Sandy Hook, NJ, Gateway National Recreation Area
Ner S. Preliminary Assessment of Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) Nesting Ecology at Sandy Hook, NJ, Gateway National Recreation Area. 2002
The Sandy Hook Unit (SHU) is the only part of the Gateway National Recreation Area (GNRA)located in New Jersey. SHU is a peninsula approximately 680 hectares in size, extending northfrom coastal New Jersey into the confluence of Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, Lower New YorkBay and the Atlantic Ocean. SHU lies at the northern end of New Jersey’s barrier island system.Approximately nineteen kilometers (km) of ocean and bay shoreline ring the peninsula, whichvaries in width from less than one-tenth km to approximately 1.6 km in the widest part.The most conspicuous turtle species found at SHU is the Northern diamondback terrapin, abrackish water turtle. Terrapins are one of the most latitudinally wide-ranging turtles of NorthAmerica, ranging from Cape Cod to the Florida Keys, and as far west as the Gulf Coast of Texas(Conant and Collins 1998). Terrapins are the only turtles in the U.S. that regularly inhabit tidalcreeks, bays, coastal marshes, estuaries, and salt marshes, where the salinity ranges from zero toalmost full salt water. In the early spring, terrapins come out from hibernation and spend theirtime feeding and mating. During June, July, and early August, adult females cross the intertidalzone to nest on sandy dunes. Through late summer, terrapins spend most of their time feeding indeep waters in preparation for the winter hibernation (Roosenburg 1991). At this same time,terrapin hatchlings emerge from their nests. Hatchlings emerge from late August throughSeptember and early October, while some may overwinter in the nest and emerge the followingspring. The diet of M. terrapin mainly consists of dead fish, crabs, snails, shrimp, clams andother invertebrates. Terrapins may be an important component of estuarine food webs (Hurd etal. 1979), but more research is needed to determine their role in the ecosystem.
- Type
- Project
- Authors
- Ner, Sylwia
- Units
- GATE , NCBN
- Keywords
- Abundance (Biodiversity), Diamondback Terrapin, Distribution (Biodiversity), malaclemys terrapin, Nesting, Observations, Presence (Biodiversity), Reptiles, Turtles
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Amphibians and Reptiles
Program
Products
- Preliminary Assessment of Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) Nesting Ecology at Sandy Hook, NJ, Gateway National Recreation Area: July-September 2002
- Field data for Preliminary Assessment of Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) Nesting Ecology at Sandy Hook, NJ, Gateway National Recreation Area: July - September 2002 (GATE_Database_Terrapins_2005.mdb)