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Krochmal, A. R., & O’Malley, H. , Eastern painted turtles (chrysemys picta picta) use traditional routes when moving between aquatic habitats.
Added by: Admin (06 Jan 2014 18:22:54 UTC) |
| Resource type: Conference Paper BibTeX citation key: Krochmal2011 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Chrysemys picta, Emydidae, Habitat - habitat, Nordamerika - North America, Schildkröten - turtles + tortoises Creators: Krochmal, O’Malley |
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| Abstract |
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Aquatic turtles leave the water and traverse terrestrial habitats during oviposition, nesting or when the aquatic habitat becomes degraded or desiccates. Though overland movements are central to the biology of aquatic turtles, few studies have been devoted to such movements, in part because the fleeting nature of such phenomena makes them difficult to document. Using radiotelemetry, we investigated the terrestrial movements of Eastern Painted turtles (Chrysemys picta picta) as they left an ephemeral water source seeking new aquatic habitats. We monitored turtles at Chesapeake Farms, a 3300-acre wildlife management property where certain ponds are drained annually as part of a waterfowl management regime, enabling us to investigate how turtles naturally seek out new aquatic habitats. We radiotagged 19 adult C. p. picta and monitored their movements from the time they left their home pond until they reached a new, permanent water source. New water sources were 330m-850m from their home pond. Turtles followed one of four specific, directed, and intricate routes to new water sources, and animals monitored for two seasons followed the identical routes both years. These data indicate a high degree of familiarity with the habitat and these far-off water sources, a notion supported by the inability of turtles translocated to this site to locate any permanent body of water. Our results demonstrate the use of and long-term familiarity with specific regions of upland habitats and distant water sources by C. p. picta and underscore the importance of such habitats to the biology and conservation of aquatic turtles.
Added by: Admin |