From nesting to emergence: Environmental drivers of hatchling success in Blanding’s turtles and implications for management in Southeast Michigan

<p>Blanding’s turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) are long-lived turtles whose populations are highly sensitive to juvenile recruitment. We used intensive nest monitoring, microclimate logging, soil measurements, and local weather data at two Southeast Michigan sites to quantify how nest placement, incubation environments, and substrate conditions influence emergence success and hatchling condition. Nesting females were morphologically similar in size and produced average clutch sizes for the species (8 ± 2 eggs). Nest sites were found on relatively open, disturbed uplands with sandier soil substrates. Emergence success was generally high (≈ 70-80%) in nests protected from predation. Sandy loam had the highest success rates whereas cobble-rich substrates were associated with markedly higher deformity rates in emerged hatchlings compared to nests without. These results highlight that, beyond predation, fine-scale nest microhabitat and substrate influence hatchling quality. Management should prioritize providing protected, low-cobble, sandy loam or loamy sand nesting habitat within 200–300 m of core aquatic areas.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biology

Year dc:date.available

2026

Author dc:creator

• Boyer, Morgan

Contributors dc:contributor

• Katherine Greenwald, Ph.D.
• Jonathan Hall, Ph.D.
• Kristin Judd, Ph.D.

• Artificial Nest Site Creation
• Blanding's Turtle
• Emydoidea blandingii
• Hatchling
• Microhabitat
• Substrate
• Biology
• Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1343

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-2672