{"title":"Incidence of Botfly Infestation in the Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata)","authors":"John B. Iverson","doi":"10.2744/ccb-1598.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2744/ccb-1598.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Infestation of Ornate Box Turtles (<em>Terrapene ornata</em>) by sarcophagid botflies was studied over 38 yrs in western Nebraska. At least 2% of captured individuals were infected, primarily in late spring following warm temperatures in the previous September. Botflies may be a significant cause of mortality in box turtles in some years.</p>","PeriodicalId":50703,"journal":{"name":"Chelonian Conservation and Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140173127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Eduardo Reyes-Grajales, Matteo Cazzanelli, Nora P. López-León, Alejandra Sepúlveda-Lozada, Luis Antonio Muñoz Alonso, Rocío Rodiles-Hernández
{"title":"The Importance of Riparian and Aquatic Resources in the Diet of Dermatemys mawii in a Lentic System in Southern Mexico","authors":"Eduardo Reyes-Grajales, Matteo Cazzanelli, Nora P. López-León, Alejandra Sepúlveda-Lozada, Luis Antonio Muñoz Alonso, Rocío Rodiles-Hernández","doi":"10.2744/ccb-1577.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2744/ccb-1577.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The Central American river turtle (<em>Dermatemys mawii</em>) is one of the of the most critically endangered turtle species worldwide, as a result of habitat loss and heavy hunting for consumption. Research on <em>D. mawii</em> becomes more challenging as wild populations are disappearing, while basic ecological data are still required to inform conservation efforts. In this study, our aim was to analyze the diet of <em>D. mawii</em> based on sex, and compare the information provided by stomach flushing and fecal samples. We examined both types of samples from individuals captured in 2017 and 2018 in a lentic system in the Lacantun River Basin, Chiapas, Mexico. We identified 3 broad categories (aquatic macrophytes, riparian resources and invertebrates) and 12 different food items, of which four are new reports of vascular plants for the diet of this turtle. The principal items consumed by <em>D. mawii</em> were <em>Pistia stratiotes</em> (a free-floating macrophyte) and <em>Ludwigia</em> sp. (a riparian plant). A low index of relative importance (≤ 0.5) for invertebrates suggests that they may be ingested accidentally when feeding on plants. We did not detect significant sex differences in the relative contribution of food items between the two sampling methods; additionally, we found a large dietary overlap (Cλ ≥ 0.89) between sexes that indicates a similar use of resources in this lentic system. We found all 3 broad food categories in stomach flushing samples and only one (riparian resources) in fecal samples; however, we did not find significant differences in the number of food items. The use of both postingestion sampling methods provided a more comprehensive view of the diet of this herbivorous freshwater turtle.</p>","PeriodicalId":50703,"journal":{"name":"Chelonian Conservation and Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140169223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Grover Brown, Jonathan D. Mays, Houston C. Chandler, Benjamin S. Stegenga, Brian Kreiser, Dirk J. Stevenson
{"title":"Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata) Population Genetics in the Southeastern United States","authors":"Grover Brown, Jonathan D. Mays, Houston C. Chandler, Benjamin S. Stegenga, Brian Kreiser, Dirk J. Stevenson","doi":"10.2744/ccb-1560.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2744/ccb-1560.1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50703,"journal":{"name":"Chelonian Conservation and Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140505213","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sabrina Fossette, Anton D. Tucker, Andrea Whiting, Ryan Douglas, James Gee, Kelly Howlett, Kellie L. Pendoley, Robert T. Prince, Jason Rossendell, Paul A. Whittock, Scott Whiting
{"title":"Reducing the Impact of Tagging on Flatback Turtles Using Double Passive Integrated Transponder Tags","authors":"Sabrina Fossette, Anton D. Tucker, Andrea Whiting, Ryan Douglas, James Gee, Kelly Howlett, Kellie L. Pendoley, Robert T. Prince, Jason Rossendell, Paul A. Whittock, Scott Whiting","doi":"10.2744/ccb-1582.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2744/ccb-1582.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>All monitoring programs on the west coast of Australia have trialed a new mark–recapture protocol to address tag loss in individual flatback turtles (<em>Natator depressus</em>) during recent nesting seasons (2020, 2021, 2022). This protocol aligns with ethical considerations for the tagging of marine megafauna. In addition to increasing retention rate of identification tags, this new protocol is expected to decrease the potential long-term health impacts of tagging on this species.</p>","PeriodicalId":50703,"journal":{"name":"Chelonian Conservation and Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140166165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jessica Harvey-Carroll, J. Crespo-Picazo, Mariana Saubidet, Nathan J. Robinson, Daniel García-Párraga, David March
{"title":"Brushes and Shelters as Low-Cost Environmental Enrichment Devices for Loggerhead Turtles (Caretta caretta) During Rehabilitation","authors":"Jessica Harvey-Carroll, J. Crespo-Picazo, Mariana Saubidet, Nathan J. Robinson, Daniel García-Párraga, David March","doi":"10.2744/ccb-1596.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2744/ccb-1596.1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50703,"journal":{"name":"Chelonian Conservation and Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140504944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Sawback is a Sawback is a Sawback: Diet and Habitat-Related Variation in Body Size of the Turtle Graptemys oculifera Show It Is an Ecological Analogue of Its Two Closest Relatives","authors":"Peter V. Lindeman, Will Selman, Robert L. Jones","doi":"10.2744/ccb-1575.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2744/ccb-1575.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The map turtles and sawbacks (<em>Graptemys</em>) sort by female head width into narrow-headed (microcephalic) females of 5 species that eat few mollusks, moderately broad-headed (mesocephalic) females of 4 species that eat moderately high amounts of mollusks, and broad-headed (megacephalic) females of 5 species that eat mollusks almost exclusively. The microcephalic species include a clade of 3 sawbacks, <em>Graptemys nigrinoda</em>, <em>Graptemys flavimaculata</em>, and <em>Graptemys oculifera</em>. The first 2 are sponge specialists, but 2 previous dietary studies of <em>G. oculifera</em> did not report sponges; both also lacked comparisons between the sexes. Both of the other sawbacks also feed on brackish-water mussels near the coast, but this phenomenon has not been examined for <em>G. oculifera</em>. Increased body sizes occur in coastal populations of both other sawbacks as well. We examined <em>G. oculifera</em> diets using fecal samples and found that contrary to the earlier results, they also fed primarily on sponges, as well as insects. Females also consumed algae, Asian clams, and, in a coastal population, mussels. In low-gradient river reaches near the coast, <em>G. oculifera</em> achieved large body sizes compared to populations inhabiting sandbar-dominated inland reaches; they were also large at the confluences of the Pearl River and a tributary creek with the Ross Barnett Reservoir. The fact that <em>G. oculifera</em> at the 2 confluences with a large inland reservoir showed the same trend in body size as they did at the coastal sites suggests that the primary reason for large body size may be thermal stability and/or slowing current that promotes biological production, rather than consumption of brackish-water mussels in coastal populations, as the mussels were absent near the reservoir. In addition, high predation by alligators may also occur at the reservoir confluence and coastal sites and select for large body sizes. Overall, the 3 allopatric sawbacks show a pattern of vicariant divergence as ecological analogues, consistent with findings for other allopatric sets of related species.</p>","PeriodicalId":50703,"journal":{"name":"Chelonian Conservation and Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140169235","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Neil P. Bernstein, S. Andy McCollum, Terry J. VanDeWalle, Robert W. Black, Richard R. Rhodes, Daniel F. Hughes
{"title":"Longevity Estimates of Ornate Box Turtles (Terrapene ornata) in Iowa","authors":"Neil P. Bernstein, S. Andy McCollum, Terry J. VanDeWalle, Robert W. Black, Richard R. Rhodes, Daniel F. Hughes","doi":"10.2744/ccb-1578.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2744/ccb-1578.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Most studies on wild ornate box turtles (<em>Terrapene ornata</em>) estimate maximum age in the 30s with some data suggesting that individuals may live beyond 50. We present data from a 29-yr study of 374 marked turtles in which at least 44% lived into their 30s and at least 3.5% survived into their 40s. Females may survive longer than males. Older turtles can affect reproductive potential of the population; therefore, conservation and management for this state-threatened species should account for longer lifespans than previously assumed.</p>","PeriodicalId":50703,"journal":{"name":"Chelonian Conservation and Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140169238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anna Thonis, Christopher Werni, Cosku Ozcelik, Zhen Ye Pan, Kristi Fung, Brittany Ford, Melissa Hunter, Lisa Prowant
{"title":"Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) Shell Damage and Health in an Urban Landscape","authors":"Anna Thonis, Christopher Werni, Cosku Ozcelik, Zhen Ye Pan, Kristi Fung, Brittany Ford, Melissa Hunter, Lisa Prowant","doi":"10.2744/ccb-1563.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2744/ccb-1563.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Eastern box turtles (<em>Terrapene carolina</em>) are becoming increasingly threatened by the rate of urbanization and habitat fragmentation. The high population density and heavy urbanization of Long Island, New York, provide an ideal system to examine possible drivers of differences in eastern box turtle shell damage and health in an urban landscape, as well as possible differences in sex and stage ratios. Over the course of our 2-yr study, we captured a total of 189 unique individual eastern box turtles across 20 sites on Long Island. Shell damage was evaluated according to a 5-level ranking system based on the amount and type of damage an individual turtle exhibited. To study eastern box turtle health, we calculated a body condition index using each turtle’s body weight and straight-line carapace width. All damage and health data were compared by site, sex, and life stage using generalized linear models. These relationships were also analyzed against a set of land cover and land use variables. Across all comparative analyses performed, only the US Geological Survey land cover variable Dryland Cropland and Pasture showed a significant relationship to shell damage. Additionally, Long Island’s eastern box turtles appear to exhibit greater rates of shell damage when compared with turtles in more rural parts of their range. We found male-biased sex ratios across the island; however, no definitive driver was identified. Our study underscores the need for future work on the long-term viability of eastern box turtle populations, specifically those inhabiting areas of high human population density.</p>","PeriodicalId":50703,"journal":{"name":"Chelonian Conservation and Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140169342","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emma A. Schultz, Melissa Cook, Redwood W. Nero, Ryan J. Caillouet, Jaymie L. Reneker, James E. Barbour, Zhankun Wang, Brian A. Stacy
{"title":"Point of No Return: Determining Depth at Which Sea Turtle Carcasses Experience Constant Submergence","authors":"Emma A. Schultz, Melissa Cook, Redwood W. Nero, Ryan J. Caillouet, Jaymie L. Reneker, James E. Barbour, Zhankun Wang, Brian A. Stacy","doi":"10.2744/ccb-1518.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2744/ccb-1518.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>At-sea mortality information is important for understanding the magnitude of threats to protected sea turtle species. When a sea turtle dies, it typically sinks, starts decomposing, and will eventually float to the surface if the carcass remains intact and enough internal gases accumulate. However, few data are available regarding the rate and duration of these processes to allow estimation of time since death once carcasses are recovered. Twenty-seven Kemp's ridley (<em>Lepidochelys kempii</em>) and 15 green (<em>Chelonia mydas</em>) sea turtle cold-stunned carcasses were placed in wire mesh, weighted cages at varying water depths (10–40 m) and temperatures (18.5°C–28.7°C) in the northern Gulf of Mexico from June 2018 to October 2019. Cameras and temperature-depth-orientation recorders were used to document decomposition progression and carcass buoyancy. Decomposition rate was measured using corrected accumulated degree hours and values of observed time-to-float were compared with predictions based on laboratory and field experiments in previous research. Overall, carcasses did not float when deployed in waters > 30 m when temperatures were < 22°C and carcasses tended to float sooner in ≤ 20 m depths, especially if bottom temperatures were > 24°C. Green sea turtle carcasses floated in a variety of environmental conditions, but onset of positive buoyancy was not very predictable. Buoyancy of Kemp's ridley sea turtle carcasses was inconsistent, but float times were fairly predictable. We did not identify the exact depth at which sea turtle carcasses cannot generate enough gases to float, but that depth is likely very close to 40 m. Carcasses that became buoyant in ≥ 30 m depths tended to float for < 24 hrs before sinking again and, therefore, it is unlikely that they have enough time to drift to shore. This information enhances our understanding of the likelihood of carcasses washing ashore and can be incorporated into carcass backtracking analyses to facilitate identification of mortality causes.</p>","PeriodicalId":50703,"journal":{"name":"Chelonian Conservation and Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138494966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}