Maternal diet influences fecundity in a freshwater turtle undergoing population decline

Food availability determines the amount of energy animals can acquire and allocate to reproduction and other necessary functions. Female animals that are food-limited thus experience reduced energy available for reproduction. When this occurs, females may reduce frequency of reproductive events or the number or size of offspring per reproductive bout. We assessed how maternal diet affects reproductive output in adult female Murray River short-necked turtles, Emydura macquarii, from four wetlands in Victoria. We previously found that turtle diets differ in the composition of plants and animals between our study wetlands. In this study, we tested whether differences in turtle diet composition (i.e plants and animals) at these wetlands were associated with differences in clutch mass, individual egg mass, bulk egg composition, and hatching success. We found total clutch mass increased with maternal body size at each site. At sites where filamentous green algae were scarce and E. macquarii w..., Please see the published manuscript associated with this data, , # Maternal diet influences fecundity in a freshwater turtle undergoing population decline

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.05qfttfbg](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.05qfttfbg)

The attached Excel spreadsheet includes all data related to the associated manuscript. Briefly, gravid female turtles were captured in the wild, induced to lay their eggs with oxytocin, and eggs were collected for either direct analysis or incubation. Eggs (and maternal claw samples) were analysed for isotopic content, and eggs were analysed for total protein, water, fat, and energy content. The incubated eggs were incubated at either 26 or 30 C (clutches split approximately 50-50), and hatching success was measured.

## Description of the data and file structure

In the spreadsheet, 

Workbook \"Egg Collection Data\" provides summary data of all eggs collected, including laying date and time, mass, dimensions, and fate

\"Hatching Dates\" indicates the hatching dates for those incubated eggs which hatched

\"Egg and Mo...

食物可获得性决定了动物所能获取并分配至繁殖及其他必要生理活动的能量总量。因此，食物受限的雌性动物可用于繁殖的能量会减少。在此情况下，雌性个体可能会降低繁殖事件的发生频率，抑或减少单次繁殖所产出的后代数量，或是缩小后代体型。本研究针对维多利亚州四处湿地的成年雌性墨累河短颈龟（Emydura macquarii），探究母体饮食如何影响其繁殖产出。此前我们已发现，各研究湿地内的龟类饮食在动植物组成上存在差异。本研究中，我们检验了这些湿地内龟类饮食组成（即动植物占比）的差异，是否与窝卵质量、单卵质量、卵整体组成以及孵化成功率的差异相关。我们发现，各研究位点的总窝卵质量均随母体体型增大而提升。在丝状绿藻匮乏且Emydura macquarii……相关内容请参阅本数据集对应的已发表论文：# 母体饮食影响种群衰退淡水龟的繁殖力

https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.05qfttfbg

附件中的Excel电子表格包含了与该关联论文相关的全部数据。简要而言，研究人员在野外捕获怀卵雌性龟类，通过催产素（oxytocin）诱导其产卵，并收集卵用于直接分析或孵化实验。对卵（以及母体爪部样本）进行了同位素含量检测，同时对卵开展了总蛋白、水分、脂肪及能量含量的分析。孵化实验分别在26℃与30℃条件下进行（窝卵大致按50:50均分），并记录孵化成功率。

## 数据与文件结构说明

本电子表格中：
- 工作簿"Egg Collection Data"收录了所有采集卵的汇总数据，包括产卵日期与时间、卵质量、尺寸以及卵的最终状态
- "Hatching Dates"工作表记录了已孵化的人工孵化卵的孵化日期
- "Egg and Mo..."（内容截断）