[PDF] The Nesting Ecology Of The Wood Turtle Glyptemys Insculpta At The Northeastern Limit Of Its Range eBook

Author : Alexandra T. Vlk
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 30,66 MB
Release : 2019
Category : Wood turtle
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"This thesis focuses primarily on a disturbed wood turtle population located in Otsego County, NY with comparisons to turtles in protected sistes located in Putnam County, NY and CT and Sussex County, NJ." -- Preface.

Author : Jenny Lynn Rutherford
Publisher :
Page : 54 pages
File Size : 14,28 MB
Release : 2010
Category : Turtles
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Understanding predator foraging habits and nesting ecology of turtles is essential for the long term management of predator and prey. The objectives of this study were to (1) collect descriptive data on nesting ecology, including nest predation rate of a Wood Turtle population in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, (2) investigate potential cues used by predators for location of Wood Turtle nests, and (3) determine effects of the distance of nests from a river on predation. Natural nests (identified by oviposition behavior of females) were marked and monitored for predation. Additionally, simulated nests were created with 1 of 4 treatments applied: soil disturbance, turtle-scented water, soil disturbance and turtle-scented water, and distilled water (control). In a second experiment, artificial nests with buried chicken eggs were created at varying distances from the river and monitored for predation. Natural nest in this study experienced a low predation rate (4/7) compared to other studies. This result may be an artifact of small sample size or the remoteness of the study area, absence of human disturbance and resulting low density of raccoons. My results also suggest that nest predators used soil disturbance cues primarily for locating nests. Thus, applying a chemical cue to artificial nests in future empirical nest predation studies may be irrelevant. Nest predation decreased as nest distance from the river increased, which may have important conservation implications for future management plans.

Author : Geoffrey Norman Hughes
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 44,31 MB
Release : 2016
Category :
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Thermal ecology studies of ectotherms, like turtles, have typically focused on a species' thermal preferences and tolerances, or on thermoregulation site selections; only recently have landscape-scale thermal ecology studies been performed. I examined the spatial and nesting ecology of wood turtles in Sudbury District of Ontario, Canada, in a thermal context. I also measured the thermal impacts of natural resource extraction on wood turtle habitat. Wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) cover a wide variety of terrestrial and aquatic habitats during their annual cycle, making them ideal for thermo-spatial studies. I tracked movements and thermal use of 15 radio-tagged adult turtles during the active season, comparing their selections to temperature monitoring stations spread in an array across the study area, to determine if the turtles are navigating a thermal landscape. Temperature had minimal influence on home range-scale movements, but possibly influenced movements at a smaller spatial scale. I compared the thermal landscape (using thermal imagery), soil moisture, and grain size distribution of 3 nesting beaches to determine the strongest predictor of nest-searching behaviour. Temperature range appeared to be an important cue, but females were apparently using a suite of cues to select their nest sites. I mapped the thermal landscapes of six sites: two relatively undisturbed wood turtle habitat sites, two recently-harvested forestry sites, and two active gravel pits, to find the effects of resource harvesting on wood turtle habitat. The undisturbed sites were cooler and less variable than the disturbed sites, and provided higher-quality thermal habitat. My results support the findings of previous studies: that temperature is a stronger driver of turtle behaviour at the micro-habitat scale than the home range scale, and that soil temperature co-varies with soil structural variables at the micro-habitat scale. The data from the habitat mapping provide useful information for conservation efforts when mitigating or rehabilitating wood turtle habitat.

Author : Travis Brian White
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 25,42 MB
Release : 2013
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Herein, I examine two aspects of overwintering ecology of wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) in Nova Scotia, Canada. The research was conducted in a region that supports a large population of G. insculpta despite being located near the northeastern edge of the species' range. Using radio telemetry, I monitored turtles across two consecutive winters to investigate microhabitat properties that are critical to hibernation in G. insculpta. The sample population overwintered in a range of habitats; some different from those reported elsewhere in the species' range. Conventionally, wood turtles rely on highly oxygenated rivers, and have been previously described as hypoxia-intolerant. Data from this study indicate that wood turtles are capable of surviving dormancy in hypoxic oxbows. Accordingly, I propose that G. insculpta is a hypoxia-tolerant species, and further hypothesize that a diversification of overwintering strategies may allow the local population to adapt to environmental stochasticity associated with life at the edge of the species' range. I also examined communal hibernation and seasonal site fidelity and show the first known accounts of male-female congregating, mating, and synchronized spring emergence in G. insculpta, and suggest that communal hibernation is linked to increased mating opportunities. Using historical telemetry data for a subsample of mutual turtles, long-term patterns in seasonal site fidelity revealed that among adult females, differing life history strategies may exist. Although migratory females are often viewed as outliers by decision makers, the survival and genetic contribution of these 'risk takers' may be critical to local populations, and ultimately effect evolution of the species. Above all, the findings have implications for conservation in that they warrant a new definition of critical overwintering habitats for G. insculpta, and highlight why the dismissal of outlying seasonal movement data can result in inadequate protection of corridors between hibernacula and nesting sites.