Literaturdatenbank
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Stratmann, T., Maerz, J., Barrett, K., Floyd, T., Nibbelink, N., & Hickey, J. , Modeling the haystack to find the needle: Developing methods to locate and survey for bog turtles (glyptemys muhlenbergii) - 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 Unpublished paper presented at Program and Abstracts of the Tenth Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles.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: Sarina Wunderlich (06 Jul 2014 16:17:24 UTC) |
| Resource type: Conference Paper BibTeX citation key: Stratmann2013 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Chrysemys picta, Emydidae, Habitat - habitat, Nordamerika - North America, Schildkröten - turtles + tortoises Creators: Barrett, Floyd, Hickey, Maerz, Nibbelink, Stratmann 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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Bog Turtles (Glyptemys muhlenbergii) have a reputation for elusiveness and live in wetlands that are also difficult to locate. Listed in the Endangered Species Act, national and state wildlife agencies must conserve this rare chelonian. Locating new populations is a conservation priority for states in the turtle’s southern range (as outlined by state wildlife action plans). Seemingly trivial, the task is complicated by lack of an efficient, standardized, scientifically-informed strategy for locating both the habitat and the turtle. To address these deficiencies we are: (1) developing a species distribution model (SDM) to better predict where potentially suitable habitat is located; and (2) using a mark/recapture study in known populations of bog turtles to design guidelines for survey efforts. The SDM was built for the southern portion of the range (GA, SC, NC, VA, TN) and indicated 1,563,535 hectares of suitable habitat (19% of the area within a simple range map for this portion of the species’ range). Suitable areas can then be prioritized for survey based on habitat quality and site accessibility. Once a site is chosen presence/absence surveys can be conducted via trapping. Trapping effort must be sufficient to reduce the chance of false absences, and can only be determined knowing the species’ detection rate with a standardized survey methodology. By conducting a mark/recapture study in seven known Bog Turtle sites in Georgia, we discovered that required trapping effort depends on bog characteristics. Some sites are easy to trap (small with shallow travel corridors) and some difficult (large, few travel corridors, and/or access restricted by landowners). In the easy to trap sites detection rates are high (0.50 for a site during a given trapping event) and little time (6–8 days) is required before there is only a small chance (10–5%, respectively) the species’ presence is undetected. For sites that are difficult to trap detection rates are much lower (0.12) and more effort must be invested (36–46 days) for trapping to be informative. So by combining SDMs and occupancy modeling, locating and surveying for an elusive creature becomes a reality and limited resources can be prioritized based on site characteristics.
Added by: Sarina Wunderlich |