| Both wild and farmed American alligator populations contribute to a multi million dollar meat and hide industry in the United States and the biology of this species has been studied extensively from a management perspective. An understanding of the reproductive ecology of this species is critical in maintaining and monitoring populations for proper management. The research described here investigates three diverse ecological aspects of alligator reproduction that provide useful information regarding variation in response to abiotic stressors. This study examines 1) abundance and stress in response to oil inundation 2) ecophysiological variation in egg shape correlated with varying salinity and 3) the use of reproductive allometry as a tool for assessing the marginality of populations. Conclusions from these studies provide new assessment methods for monitoring alligator populations and population based responses to abiotic stressors.;Key words: alligator, reproduction, geometric morphometrics, allometry, ecology... |
