Turtles of the United States and Canada
Turtles of the United States and Canada

Author: Carl H. Ernst

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2009-06-15

Total Pages: 840

ISBN-13: 0801891213

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Winner, 2011 Book Award, The Wildlife Society2009 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Ernst and Lovich’s thoroughly revised edition of this classic reference provides the most updated information ever assembled on the natural histories of North American turtles. From diminutive mud turtles to giant alligator snappers, two of North America’s most prominent experts describe the turtles that live in the fresh, brackish, and marine waters north of Mexico. Incorporating the explosion of new scientific information published on turtles over the past fifteen years—including the identification of four new species—Ernst and Lovich supply comprehensive coverage of all fifty-eight species, with discussions of conservation status and recovery efforts. Each species account contains information on identification, genetics, fossil record, distribution, geographic variation, habitat, behavior, reproduction, biology, growth and longevity, food habits, populations, predators, and conservation status. The book includes range maps for freshwater and terrestrial species, a glossary of scientific names, an extensive bibliography for further research, and an index to scientific and common names. Logically organized and richly illustrated—with more than two hundred color photographs and fifty-two maps—Turtles of the United States and Canada remains the standard for libraries, museums, nature centers, field biologists, and professional and amateur herpetologists alike.

Wood Turtle Ecology and Management Strategies in a Landscape Under Active Agriculture
Wood Turtle Ecology and Management Strategies in a Landscape Under Active Agriculture

Author: Shaylyn Wallace

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13:

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I investigated the habitat selection of wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) in a landscape within active agriculture and assessed the risk of agricultural practices. I tracked 23 wood turtles and recorded their habitat use versus availability on a 3rd and 4th order scale. I found that wood turtles preferred fields over the forest and that hay fields are likely an attractant to wood turtles due to high food availability and low canopy cover. Wood turtles used the hayfields during the hay harvest season, and stayed close to field edges. I monitored the movement response of wood turtles as they were approached by agricultural machinery and found that most turtles could not successfully escape the mower. My study shows that agriculture poses a high risk to wood turtles in an agricultural landscape and management strategies are necessary to prevent populations from extirpation.

Navigating the Thermal Landscape
Navigating the Thermal Landscape

Author: Geoffrey Norman Hughes

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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Thermal ecology studies of ectotherms, like turtles, have typically focused on a species' thermal preferences and tolerances, or on thermoregulation site selections; only recently have landscape-scale thermal ecology studies been performed. I examined the spatial and nesting ecology of wood turtles in Sudbury District of Ontario, Canada, in a thermal context. I also measured the thermal impacts of natural resource extraction on wood turtle habitat. Wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) cover a wide variety of terrestrial and aquatic habitats during their annual cycle, making them ideal for thermo-spatial studies. I tracked movements and thermal use of 15 radio-tagged adult turtles during the active season, comparing their selections to temperature monitoring stations spread in an array across the study area, to determine if the turtles are navigating a thermal landscape. Temperature had minimal influence on home range-scale movements, but possibly influenced movements at a smaller spatial scale. I compared the thermal landscape (using thermal imagery), soil moisture, and grain size distribution of 3 nesting beaches to determine the strongest predictor of nest-searching behaviour. Temperature range appeared to be an important cue, but females were apparently using a suite of cues to select their nest sites. I mapped the thermal landscapes of six sites: two relatively undisturbed wood turtle habitat sites, two recently-harvested forestry sites, and two active gravel pits, to find the effects of resource harvesting on wood turtle habitat. The undisturbed sites were cooler and less variable than the disturbed sites, and provided higher-quality thermal habitat. My results support the findings of previous studies: that temperature is a stronger driver of turtle behaviour at the micro-habitat scale than the home range scale, and that soil temperature co-varies with soil structural variables at the micro-habitat scale. The data from the habitat mapping provide useful information for conservation efforts when mitigating or rehabilitating wood turtle habitat.