Data from: Drivers of thermal habitat use in turtles studied under semi-natural conditions
Data files
Mar 19, 2026 version files 34.01 MB
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Epoxy_Test_7.4.14.csv
139.38 KB
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README.md
4.13 KB
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Turtle_Enclosure_Temperature.csv
9.03 MB
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Turtle_Temperature.csv
23.97 MB
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Turtle_Thermal_Manuscript_Rscript.R
862.51 KB
Abstract
Understanding which factors predict species’ sensitivity to climate change requires comparative studies under standardized conditions. Reptiles are particularly vulnerable to climate shifts due to their reliance on external temperatures to regulate body temperature. As such, the available environmental temperatures may influence their behavior towards seeking more optimal conditions. In this study, we measured thermal habitat use in 73 individuals from nine turtle species housed under semi-natural conditions at a single location. Ambient temperatures within each enclosure were also recorded every 20 minutes for three months to determine the range of thermal options available, yielding over 650,000 data points. We then compared temperatures experienced in the thermal habitat to environmental conditions across the native range of each species. Experienced habitat temperatures generally aligned with native conditions. However, several species—including Terrapene carolina, Chelonoidis denticulata, and Indotestudo elongata— experienced habitat temperatures near the lower limit of what is currently available and showed little individual variation, suggesting limited capacity for behavioral adjustment under future warming. Experienced habitat temperature differed among species and was influenced by body mass, but not sex. By providing the first large-scale, cross-species dataset on turtle experienced habitat temperatures under standardized conditions, this study offers a framework for assessing thermal vulnerability and adaptive capacity in response to climate change. The findings also inform conservation efforts, including the design of captive environments that reflect species-specific thermal needs.
The datasets described here include time series data of epoxy and non-epoxy datalogger temperatures, turtle datalogger temperatures, enclosure datalogger temperatures, and mass and sex of individual turtles.
Software used:
- RStudio v4.1.2 for downloading GBIF turtle occurrence data and cleaning and cross-checking coordinates.
- Rstudio v4.3.3 for cleaning turtle and enclosure data measured, filtering turtle and enclosure data for "active" times (6 am - 9 pm), downloading ERA5 hourly climate data
from the Climate Data Store, running micro_era5 microclimate models, extracting microclimate temperatures data for each turtle species, and all statistical analyses using
native microclimate, enclosure, and turtle temperature data for each species across the season (July, August, and September).
Description of data files:
Epoxy_Test_7.4.14.csv
Describes measurements of datalogger temperatures with and without epoxy tested over 24 hours on 7/3/2014 - 7/4/2014.
All temperature measurements are in degrees Celsius.
Variables are described as follows:
- Date_No_Epoxy: Date of temperature measurement for the non-epoxy datalogger (Month/Day/Year).
- Time_No_Epoxy: Time of temperature measurement for the non-epoxy datalogger (Hour:Min:Sec).
- Temp_No_Epoxy: Temperature measurement for the non-epoxy datalogger in degrees Celsius.
- Date_Epoxy: Date of temperature measurement for the epoxy datalogger (Month/Day/Year).
- Time_Epoxy: Time of temperature measurement for the epoxy datalogger (Hour:Min:Sec).
- Temp_Epoxy: Temperature measurement for the epoxy datalogger in degrees Celsius)
Turtle_Temperature.csv
Describes turtle temperature measurements for every 20 min from July 2 to September 30, 2014, sex, and mass for each individual for each of the nine turtle species. This dataset only includes temperature data from July 2 to September 30, 201,4 and does not include data for C. denticulata on July 9, 201,4 which was filtered out from the original dataset. Data used for analyses.
All temperature measurements are in degrees Celsius.
Both individuals for Galapagos have the same recorded mass (142000g) taken from the literature (Chiari 2021). The mass of all other individuals of each species was measured in this study.
Variables are described as follows:
- Date: Date of temperature measurement (Month/Day/Year).
- Time: Time of temperature measurement (Hour:Min).
- Individual: Individual ID (number) for each individual of each species.
- Tpref_C: Temperature of datalogger measured at each time point for each individual measured in degrees Celsius.
- Species: Species of the individual for the temperature measurement.
- Sex: Sex (either "M" for male or "F" for female) of the individual for the temperature measurement.
- Mass_g: Mass of the individual for the temperature measurement, measured in grams (g).
Turtle_Enclosure_Temperature.csv
Describes enclosure temperature measurements for every 20 min from July 2 to September 30, 201,4 for each enclosure datalogger for each species either placed in the sun, shade,
or house within each species enclosure. Data used for analyses.
All temperature measurements are in degrees Celsius.
Variables are described as follows:
- Date: Date of temperature measurement (Month/Day/Year).
- Time: Time of temperature measurement (Hour:Min).
- TempC: Temperature of the datalogger measured at each time point, measured in degrees Celsius.
- Controls: Datalogger identification and description of location within enclosure (shade, su,n or in-house).
- Species: Species for which the datalogger was placed in the respective enclosure.
Turtle_Thermal_Manuscript_Rscript.R
Rscript code used for cleaning data and conducting all statistical analyses. This R script loads and analyzes turtle temperature data by cleaning datasets, comparing epoxy vs non-epoxy sensors, and performing statistical tests (correlation and t-tests) to check differences.