Literaturdatenbank
Literaturdatenbank |
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Jones, M. T., & Sievert, P. R. (2012). Elevated mortality of hatchling blanding's turtles (emydoidea blandingii) in residential landscapes. Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 7(1), 89–94.
Added by: Sarina Wunderlich (30 Jun 2012 22:01:08 UTC) |
| Resource type: Journal Article BibTeX citation key: Jones2012 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Emydoidea blandingii, Habitat = habitat, Nordamerika = North America, Schildkröten = turtles + tortoises Creators: Jones, Sievert Collection: Herpetological Conservation and Biology |
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| Abstract |
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We investigated the relationship between residential development and post-emergent mortality rate in 72 wild Blanding’s Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) at nine separate nesting areas in fragmented and residential landscapes in Massachusetts. Thirteen hatchlings (18%) died during the study, a higher rate than reported by a similar study on a former military base about 10 km away undertaken twelve years previous (0%). Within our study area, we found nests within residential landscapes to have higher mortality rates than nests in nonresidential landscapes. Most observed or inferred mortalities resulted from Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) attacks. Cars, birds, and domestic horses caused the remaining mortalities. Chipmunks are abundant in eastern Massachusetts, especially in residential environments, and depredation of hatchling turtles by chipmunks and possibly other sciurids may be a locally important consideration when developing conservation and management plans for freshwater turtles in New England. Our study provides additional evidence that residential development may result in sink dynamics for freshwater turtles, in which females are attracted to anthropogenic nesting sites, but hatchlings sustain elevated mortality rates.
Added by: Sarina Wunderlich |