Literaturdatenbank
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Johnson, S., Riedle, D. J., King-Cooley, F., & Prater, L. , Population structure and growth in an urban population of three-toed box turtles (terrapene carolina triunguis) - abstract. Unpublished paper presented at Program and Abstracts of the Tenth Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles.
Added by: Admin (06 Jan 2014 18:22:53 UTC) |
| Resource type: Conference Paper BibTeX citation key: Johnson2012 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Emydidae, Habitat - habitat, Nordamerika - North America, Schildkröten - turtles + tortoises, Terrapene carolina Creators: Johnson, King-Cooley, Prater, Riedle Collection: Program and Abstracts of the Tenth Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles |
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| Abstract |
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Urban development has negative impacts on populations of Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina) in the form of habitat fragmentation, collection, and mortalities from vehicles and free-ranging pets. There have been several studies conducted on the life history of Eastern Box Turtles within urban areas, but more work is needed to fully understand how Box Turtle populations persist within urban environments. Lincoln University currently owns a 7.4-ha and a 14.7-ha green area in Jefferson City, MO, consisting of woodland and grassland habitats. Prior to the initiation of this study, many observations of Three-toed Box Turtles (T. c. triunguis) had been made by the authors. To determine population structure of Three-toed Box Turtles on this site we began marking all turtles observed utilizing a code of unique notches filed in the marginal scutes. For each turtle we counted annuli and measured distance between annuli on the third and fourth costal scutes. To date, 49 Box Turtles were marked; 30 are males, 18 are females, and 1 juvenile. In addition, 3 unmarked males have been observed mating with telemetered females. Lincoln-Peterson population estimates using the Chapman modification for small sample sizes estimated population size at 18.2 ± 5.4 on the 7.4-ha site and 34 ± 14.7 on the 14.7-ha site. We have not yet been following turtles long enough to validate annuli, but we have been able to count up to 20 annuli. After 20 annuli the carapace becomes to worn to see all annuli. Mean growth for the first annuli is 4.5-mm, 2.0-3.1 mm for annuli 2-11, and 1-1.5 mm for annuli 11-13. At 11 annuli and greater, depending on the individual, the annuli become too crowded to measure suggesting that turtles are reaching sexual maturity at this point. This work lays the foundation for long-term studies of Three-toed Box Turtles at this site with strong emphasis on habitat selection, movement patterns, population structure, and growth and survivorship.
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