Demography and Diet of the Painted Turtle (Chrysemys Picta) at High-Elevation Sites in Southwestern Colorado

Cooley, Christopher R.; Floyd, Aaron O.; Dolinger, Amy; Tucker, Paul

doi:10.1894/0038-4909(2003)048<0047:dadotp>2.0.co;2

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…2) is greater than the values found for other freshwater turtle species in different environments (Moll and Legler, 1971;Cooley et al, 2003;Litzgus and Mousseau, 2004a;Verdon and Donelly, 2005;McMaster and Downs, 2006). A low proportion of juveniles and subadult stages would suggest low recruitment and/or survival rate but also habitat-related visibility or capture bias of smaller size classes (Litzgus and Mousseau, 2004a;McMaster and Downs, 2006).…”

Section: Population Size and Densitymentioning

confidence: 62%

Density, population structure and activity pattern of Hydromedusa tectifera (Testudines-Chelidae) in a mountain stream of Córdoba province, Argentina

2008

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The Snake-necked Turtle (Hydromedusa tectifera) is mainly distributed in the northeastern provinces of Argentina; however, some isolated populations occur in central Córdoba. This is the first report on some ecological aspects of one of these populations. Population density and annual activity pattern were characterized at Toro Muerto Stream in the Sierras region of the Córdoba province, central Argentina. Turtles were hand-captured and sex and carapace length were determined for each individual. Mark-recapture data were used to estimate population density, variation in monthly capture rates, and sex ratios throughout the sampling months. A total of 96 turtles were captured and density was estimated at 218 individuals ha −1 . Individuals were captured all year round, but showed activity peaks in spring and summer. This seasonal pattern has also been observed in other freshwater turtles. During the mating season a higher number of males were captured, which suggested a seasonal difference in activity patterns between sexes.

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Section: Population Size and Densitymentioning

confidence: 62%

Density, population structure and activity pattern of Hydromedusa tectifera (Testudines-Chelidae) in a mountain stream of Córdoba province, Argentina

2008

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“…The threshold value used to determine female maturity varies widely between studies, from plastron lengths of 97 mm (Mitchell 1988) to 165 mm (Cooley et al 2003). To assess the importance of this decision criterion for the biogeographic analyses, we used two different criteria when we classified fieldcaught turtles as adult females.…”

Section: Field Sampling In Bcmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Northern populations of painted turtles tend to be more carnivorous than are southern ones (Cooley et al 2003). In Colorado, differences in elevation drove differences in growth rates and diet of painted turtles, with higher elevation populations having growth rates and degree of carnivory more similar to northern populations than to southern ones (Cooley et al 2003).…”

Section: Causes Of Local and Regional Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Local conditions, like ambient air temperatures (Brooks et al 1992), elevation (Cooley et al 2003), and habitat productivity (Brown et al 1994) are potentially important sources of variation in the life history traits of turtles. If body size of painted turtles varies substantially within or between ponds in a local area, this limited sampling may have given rise to spurious biogeographic patterns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rethinking biogeographic patterns: high local variation in relation to latitudinal clines for a widely distributed species

Tesche

Hodges

2015

Oecologia

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Wide-ranging species typically differ morphologically across their ranges. Bergmann's rule suggests that taxa in colder environments are bigger than related taxa in warmer locations. We examined 767 painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) in ten populations near their northwestern range edge in south-central British Columbia, Canada, in conjunction with previous data, to test the hypotheses of (1) a Bergmann's latitudinal cline, and (2) that males and females show similar latitudinal variation in size. We also explicitly test the impact of high local variation on range-wide inference. Female and male turtles showed similar latitudinal clines in body size; the degree of sexual dimorphism did not change across the range. Importantly, local variation in sexual dimorphism across ponds was nearly as high as the previously observed continental variation. Indeed, we found both the lowest and the highest degrees of sexual size dimorphism that have ever been reported for this species. Further, differing criteria in the literature for identifying mature females compound the difficulty of interpreting latitudinal clines in size or dimorphism. Our results highlight the need for much more systematic local and regional sampling as inputs for latitudinal or other comparative analyses such as Rensch's rule because insufficient sampling of high local variation may mask important ecological and evolutionary patterns.

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“…Carettochelys insculpta, Phrynops geoffroanus) (Georges, Norris and Wensing, 1986;Allanson and Georges, 1999;Zug, Vitt and Caldwell, 2001;Mushinsky, Stilson and McCoy, 2003;Souza, 2004;Loehr, 2006). The diet of freshwater carnivorous turtles includes insects (and their aquatic larvae), annelids, gastropods, fishes, amphibians, and even carrion (Georges, 1982;Georges, Norris and Wensing, 1986;Souza and Abe, 1995, 1997a, 1998Allanson and Georges, 1999;Cooley et al, 2003;Aguirre León and Aquino Cruz, 2004;Souza, 2004). Some turtle species consume food according to its local availability, and are therefore regarded as opportunist; other species behave as selective and specialized predators, using resources disproportionately according to availability (Georges, Norris and Wensing, 1986;Tucker, Fitzsimmons and Gibbons, 1995;Souza and Abe, 2000;Souza, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet of Hydromedusa tectifera (Testudines-Chelidae) in a mountain stream of Córdoba province, Argentina

et al. 2009

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The diet of Hydromedusa tectifera occurring in two mountain streams in the province of Córdoba is described through a comparative analysis of 154 individuals. Turtles were manually captured between August 2005 and August 2006 from streams at the localities of Tanti and Flor Serrana. Before being released, turtles were stomach-flushed, and sex and carapace length were recorded. The stomach contents were observed under stereomicroscope; prey items were identified and classified according to size and volume. The importance of the different items was quantified using the Index of Relative Importance (IRI). Similarity in the diet between sexes and among size classes and seasons of an annual cycle was evaluated using the simplified Morisita index. Trophic breadth was estimated with the Shannon diversity index. Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) was used to evaluate differences in the diet between categories (sex, size classes). Fortyseven food items belonging to the following taxa were identified: leeches, annelids, gastropods, arachnids, insects, and fishes. According to the IRI value, the most important items in the diet of H. tectifera were larvae of Trichoptera (IRI = 33.5), fishes (IRI = 30), and naiads of Odonata (IRI = 25.2). The relative importance of the items varied with size of turtles but not with sex. Size of prey consumed increased with increasing turtle size. A greater trophic breadth was observed in smaller individuals.

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Demography and Diet of the Painted Turtle (Chrysemys Picta) at High-Elevation Sites in Southwestern Colorado

Cited by 16 publications

References 17 publications

Density, population structure and activity pattern of Hydromedusa tectifera (Testudines-Chelidae) in a mountain stream of Córdoba province, Argentina

Density, population structure and activity pattern of Hydromedusa tectifera (Testudines-Chelidae) in a mountain stream of Córdoba province, Argentina

Rethinking biogeographic patterns: high local variation in relation to latitudinal clines for a widely distributed species

Diet of Hydromedusa tectifera (Testudines-Chelidae) in a mountain stream of Córdoba province, Argentina

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