ANNUAL VARIATION OF ACTIVITY AND DAILY DISTANCES MOVED IN ADULT SPUR-THIGHED TORTOISES, TESTUDO-GRAECA, IN SOUTHWESTERN SPAIN

We studied the activity patterns of Testudo graeca over 2 yr using the method of thread trailing on 131 individuals. The tortoises were acti ve for about half of the year and exhibited a bimodal annual activity pattern, with well defined aestivation and hibernation periods. Daily distances moved averaged about 50 m/day throughout the year, the maxim um distances being 1019 m/day for males and 316 m/day for females. The re were temporal differences between male and female activity patterns , consisting of an earlier emergence of males from hibernation and a d elay in entering aestivation of females. Tortoises were active mainly on non-rainy days with maximum temperature ranging from 20-30 C, minim um temperature from 6.5-15 C, relative humidity from 35-75%, and accum ulated radiation from 24-42 kw/cm(2). However, tortoises were also act ive under much more extreme values. Female activity was more dependent on exogenous factors while males showed a stronger response to endoge nous factors. In both sexes, the largest distances moved were related with the reproductive cycle, constraining tortoises to phases of activ ity under suboptimal environmental conditions: males at the beginning of courtship in late winter and females in the post-nesting recovery p hase in early summer.