[PDF] Genetics And Demography Of Wisconsin Turtles eBook

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Page : 0 pages
File Size : 40,90 MB
Release : 2015
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Turtles (order Testudines) are an ancient but highly threatened vertebrate group. Successful preservation of biodiversity in this group (as in others) requires identification of current threats, species-level traits that modulate vulnerability to these threats, and both general and species-specific strategies for mitigating threats. In this dissertation, I address these research needs for several Wisconsin turtles, focusing on the UCN-Endangered Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii). The approaches used here encompass multiple spatial scales, combine genetic and demographic methods of characterizing population viability and spatial ecology, and utilize comparisons among species, specifically by comparing endangered Blanding's turtles with more common co-occurring painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) and snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina). Each chapter of this dissertation is written and formatted as a manuscript for publication in a scholarly journal. Chapter 1 (published in Diversity and Distributions) investigates the population-level demographic and genetic responses of three turtle species with differing habitat preferences and life histories to roads and climate. Chapter 2 (prepared for submission to Molecular Ecology) describes the effects of past and present landscape features on population genetic structure in this same suite of turtle species. Chapter 3 (submitted to Methods in Ecology and Evolution) develops a novel method for estimating dispersal rates from genetic kinship data and uses this method to investigate the spatial ecology of nesting female Blanding's turtles. Finally, Chapter 4 (submitted to Biological Conservation) deals with the demographic response of a population of Blanding's turtles to habitat restoration. Overall, the work collected here demonstrates how differences in species' life history traits and habitat preferences can affect their vulnerability to environmental change and suggests how strategies for managing populations and genetic diversity can be tailored to these traits.

Author : Nathan W. Byer
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Page : 0 pages
File Size : 17,83 MB
Release : 2019
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As climate and land use change intensify throughout the 21st century, predicting responses of sensitive species to changing environmental conditions will be critical for minimizing species losses. However, these predictions are often complicated by substantial uncertainties regarding how species-level evolutionary constraints and heterogeneity in landscape characteristics influence the effectiveness of these responses. In this dissertation, I address several of these uncertainties for turtles (order Testudines), a particularly sensitive taxonomic group. Focusing on the IUCN-Endangered Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii), the studies herein leverage existing demographic and genetic datasets, detailed behavioral observations, and emerging sequencing tools to evaluate potential behavioral, demographic, and genetic responses to environmental change. Each chapter addresses separate questions and hypotheses, with each formatted for publication in scholarly journals. Chapter 1 (published in Herpetological Conservation and Biology) explores the utility of time-varying nest survival models for conservation and management of freshwater turtles, and uses nest survival datasets collected for Blanding's turtles and bog turtles (Glyptemys muhlenbergii) to illustrate these methods. Chapter 2 (published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology) considers how theories regarding Pace-of-Life Syndromes (POLS) can be used to address hypotheses about risk-taking and decision-making during nesting excursions by female Blanding's Turtles. Chapter 3 (submitted to Landscape Ecology) develops a novel modelling framework that integrates demographic and genetic datasets to predict climate and land use change effects for Blanding's Turtles. Chapter 4 (intended for submission to G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics) explores the interaction between species-level traits and patterns of local adaptation in Blanding's turtles and snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) using next-generation sequencing tools. Overall, this work highlights species-level traits that may predispose turtles to negative environmental change impacts, and demonstrates how emerging computational and sequencing tools can be used to better inform management of sensitive taxa.

Author : Christopher W. Swarth
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Page : 144 pages
File Size : 33,23 MB
Release : 2004
Category : Nature
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This volume summarizes the scientific papers from a symposium on turtles of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States. Several peer-reviewed contributions make up the chapters of this edited volume. A great resource for conservation biologists in the region and turtle biologists world-wide.

Author : Whit Gibbons
Publisher : Smithsonian Books (DC)
Page : 390 pages
File Size : 19,69 MB
Release : 1990-04-17
Category : Nature
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Based on more than twenty years worth of study and data on the Savannah River Plant, a nuclear facility in the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina, the contents of this volume encompass the entire spectrum of slider biology, from fossil history and slider systematics to population genetics and parasitology. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Author : Anthony C. Steyermark
Publisher :
Page : 250 pages
File Size : 17,43 MB
Release : 2008-03-31
Category : Nature
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This volume synthesizes all that is known about the common snapping turtle to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive resource on the species' evolution, physiology, behavior, and life history. Anthony C. Steyermark, Michael S. Finkler, Ronald J. Brooks, and a team of experts detail the systematics, energetics, growth patterns, sex determination, and population genetics of snapping turtles and devote special attention to the fossil record of the snapping turtle family Chelydridae.