Literaturdatenbank
Literaturdatenbank |
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Wilson, S. D. (2012). Movement and ecology of the eastern box turtle (terrapene carolina carolina) in a heterogeneous landscape. Unpublished thesis , Bowling Green State University.
Added by: Sarina Wunderlich (18 Nov 2012 17:47:17 UTC) |
| Resource type: Thesis/Dissertation BibTeX citation key: Wilson2012 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Emydidae, Habitat = habitat, Nordamerika = North America, Schildkröten = turtles + tortoises, Terrapene, Terrapene carolina Creators: Wilson Publisher: Bowling Green State University |
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| Abstract |
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The Eastern Box Turtle (EBT) (Terrapene carolina carolina) is a land turtle which is native to much of Eastern North America. Despite its large range, populations appear to be in an overall state of decline and the small, highly fragmented population within the Oak Openings Region of Northwest Ohio attests to this. Suitable, intact habitat is becoming increasingly rare outside of reserves and conservation action is warranted in order to determine how to best manage remaining populations of this species. I conducted a radio-telemetry survey in a study site which was located within Oak Openings Preserve Metropark, which is one of the largest blocks of intact habitat currently remaining within the Oak Openings Region. I used the data from this field study to look at the land cover composition of the home ranges of individuals, as well as which land cover types all of the turtles together had used throughout the year. I also looked at the importance that vegetation played as an indicator of box turtle site selection. Wilcoxon tests were used to compare the home ranges of five study turtles to ten similarly sized, randomly selected buffered points which were also found within the preserve. Although not statistically significant, EBT home ranges did seem to be composed largely of floodplain forest habitat. Open canopy habitat use was restricted to the month of June, which also coincided with the EBT nesting season. Understory forest plants, such as Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica), were identified near the turtles in a large portion of the capture/recapture events. These results indicate that temporal changes in habitat use should be the focus of future studies for this species across its range. Further study on EBT use of floodplain forest should also be pursued. Local land management regimes should avoid high-intensity disturbance of open canopy sites during the month of June and reintroduction of native forest sedges and shrubs should be considered in post-managed, woody stands.
Added by: Sarina Wunderlich |