For species reaching maturity at a range of ages or sizes, factors that influence juvenile growth and size at maturity may have lasting impacts on overall fitness. Assessing when animals reach maturity is especially challenging for species which are difficult to follow through time as a result of highly migratory behavior, long life spans, or both. We examined nesting female size in a reproductive assemblage of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and loggerheads (Caretta caretta) on the east coast of Florida, USA. We used a long-term dataset from 1982 to 2019 to estimate a minimum size at maturity interval on the basis of two standard deviations below mean female size for each species. The minimum size intervals for green turtles (81.4–89.3 cm) and loggerheads (68.1–79.1 cm) were lower than most previous estimates in the literature, many of which were simply the smallest individual ever observed. There was a significant decrease in the upper bound of the minimum size interval over the study period for both green turtles (1.6 cm) and loggerheads (4.1 cm). These shifts in size at maturity may be the result of changes in population demographics, habitat quality, and behavioral reactions to these changes. The development and periodic reassessment of robust estimators of maturity are an important part of programs centered around the monitoring and conservation of vulnerable wildlife populations.

中文翻译：

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大西洋重要栖息地成熟时海龟大小的长期趋势

对于在不同年龄或大小范围内达到成熟的物种，影响幼鱼生长和成熟时大小的因素可能会对整体健康产生持久影响。评估动物何时达到成熟对于由于高度迁徙行为、寿命长或两者兼而有之而难以追踪的物种尤其具有挑战性。我们检查了绿海龟 ( Chelonia mydas ) 和蠵龟( Caretta caretta )繁殖组合中筑巢雌性的大小。) 位于美国佛罗里达州东海岸。我们使用 1982 年至 2019 年的长期数据集，根据每个物种低于平均雌性体型的两个标准差来估计成熟间隔的最小体型。绿海龟 (81.4–89.3 cm) 和蠵龟 (68.1–79.1 cm) 的最小尺寸间隔低于文献中大多数先前的估计，其中许多只是有史以来观察到的最小个体。在研究期间，绿海龟 (1.6 cm) 和红海龟 (4.1 cm) 的最小尺寸区间的上限显着下降。这些成熟时大小的变化可能是人口统计、栖息地质量和对这些变化的行为反应变化的结果。