Literaturdatenbank |
Baldwin, E. A., March, M. N., & Litvaitis, J. A. (2004). Terrestrial habitat use by nesting painted turtles in landscapes with different levels of fragmentation. Northeastern Naturalist, 11(1), 41–48.
Added by: Admin (14 Aug 2008 20:38:41 UTC) |
Resource type: Journal Article BibTeX citation key: Baldwin2004 View all bibliographic details |
Categories: General Keywords: Chrysemys, Chrysemys picta, Emydidae, Habitat = habitat, Nordamerika = North America, Schildkröten = turtles + tortoises Creators: Baldwin, Litvaitis, March Collection: Northeastern Naturalist |
Views: 3/768
Views index: 10% Popularity index: 2.5% |
Abstract |
As part of a comprehensive study of the effects of landscape change on the demography of aquatic turtles, we investigated the use of upland habitats by adult female painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) during the nesting season. We intentionally selected three ponds that were surrounded by a range of land uses and development (e.g., road density ranged from 0.9 to 7.3 km/km2). Terrestrial locations of transmitter-equipped turtles (n = 8) and unmarked females that were incidentally encountered (n = 10) were recorded to: i) determine the distance traveled to nesting habitat, ii) estimate the frequency that female turtles crossed roads to reach nesting habitat, and iii) examine how the abundance of potential nesting habitat affected distance traveled. Average straight-line distance from shoreline to the site a female turtle was encountered ranged from 54 to 115 m for the three ponds. We estimated that marked turtles made five road crossings and two turtles were killed by vehicles. Distance traveled was negatively correlated with the abundance of nesting habitat near a pond. Although adult females are probably less vulnerable when nesting occurs near pond shores, nests created near pond edges may be more vulnerable to predation. As a result, providing additional nesting habitat away from roads and other potential sources of mortality may enhance recruitment among local turtle populations.
Added by: Admin |
Notes |
WIF
Added by: Admin |