Food Habits of a Pelomedusid Turtle, Pelomedusa subrufa, in Tropical Africa (Nigeria): The Effects of Sex, Body Size, Season, and Site

Luiselli, Luca; Akani, Godfrey C.; Ebere, Nwabueze; Rugiero, Lorenzo; Vignoli, Leonardo; Angelici, Francesco M.; Eniang, Edem A.; Behangana, Mathias

doi:10.2744/ccb-0843.1

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…-In Togo, P. subrufa inhabits mostly marshlands and temporary ponds and may be found in water bodies situated also inside the forest; for instance in the surroundings of Kpalimé. It has a mainly carnivorous diet (Rödel 1997;Luiselli et al 2011).…”

Section: Pelomedusa Subrufa (Bonnaterre 1789)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Turtles and Tortoises of Togo: Historical Data, Distribution, Ecology, and Conservation

Segniagbeto

Bour

Ohler

et al. 2014

Chelonian Conservation and Biology

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Section: Pelomedusa Subrufa (Bonnaterre 1789)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Turtles and Tortoises of Togo: Historical Data, Distribution, Ecology, and Conservation

Segniagbeto

Bour

Ohler

et al. 2014

Chelonian Conservation and Biology

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“…Similar to many studies, both active search and traps resulted in a small number of juveniles, and no individuals with carapace length less than 100 mm were caught (Nussear et al 2008; Strong and Fragoso 2006). Small-sized individuals are indeed hardly detected by eye searching on the forest ground and might not be efficiently attracted by the bait due to possible ontogenetic diet shift between young and adults, which was already observed in other chelonian species (e.g., Bouchard and Bjorndal 2005; Luiselli et al 2011; Morais et al 2014). In addition, the trap was also very specific to, and only captured, the target species, thus it does not affect any other non-targeted vertebrate species (apart from the bait species) through unintended captures, therefore, reducing its impact on other species and the environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Adapting a Traditional Hunting Technique to Improve Capture Rates for the Endangered Yellow-Footed Tortoise (Chelonoidis denticulatus) during Ecological Surveys in Amazonia

Morcatty

Tavares

Nijman

et al. 2020

Journal of Ethnobiology

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The lack of cost-effective methods to detect game species in tropical forests hinders reliable assessments of their population status and the planning of effective actions for their sustainable use. Tortoises are among the most hunted species in Amazonia, but present low detectability in the wild when using current scientific methods. Traditional hunters in the region use specialized methods to capture tortoises, and such knowledge could provide useful insights for improving monitoring methods and, thus, scientific research on this species. Here, we compare the capture rates and cost-effectiveness of two methods to capture the endangered yellow-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis denticulatus) in Amazonia: the conventional active search and an adaptation of pitfall traps using attractive baits employed by Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to hunt tortoises. We sampled 40 sites in upland forests and whitewater flooded forests during the dry and wet seasons in central Amazonia and captured 37 yellow-footed tortoises. The highest capture rate (0.29 tortoises/hour) was obtained using traps in upland forests, fourfold higher than by active search. Traps also presented greater cost-effectiveness than the active search (US$63 vs US$256 per captured tortoise). Our capture rate with traps was 67 times greater than those obtained using line transects in western and northern Amazonia. The success exhibited by this widespread hunting technique is a result of centuries of hunters' traditional knowledge in the Amazon. The unveiling of a cost-effective method for capturing tortoises shows the importance of exchanging traditional and scientific knowledge; efficient capturing methods favor the inclusion of the species in long-term monitoring programs and foster in situ studies that help develop strategies for its conservation.

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“…and T. triunguis partition their niche as they differ in body size (T. triunguis being much larger), morphology and ecology (Branch 2008). However, it also is possible that T. triunguis acts as a predator of the juveniles of Pelomedusa or that the juveniles of T. triunguis may compete with Pelomedusa adults as both species are fundamentally carnivorous (see Luiselli et al, 2011). Unfortunately, there are no data available to con rm these hypotheses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community Characteristics of Sympatric Freshwater Turtles from Savannah Waterbodies in Ghana

et al. 2021

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Despite increasing pressures on freshwater resources worldwide, and the threatened status of most freshwater turtles, there is still limited knowledge of habitat use and niche partitioning in Afrotropical freshwater turtle communities. In this study, we describe habitat associations, community diversity, and temporal patterns of occurrence of freshwater turtle species in the Dahomey Gap ecoregion of Ghana (West Africa). We gathered data from 13 sites in central Ghana and along the Sene Arm of Lake Volta in the Digya National Park (Bono East Region). We employed opportunistic short-term surveys (at seven sites) together with longer-term (six-months duration) standardized evaluations of turtle presence and numbers in different habitats (at six sites). In addition, we interviewed shers in the Lake Volta area to explore their perception about turtle abundance trends. Overall, 210 turtle individuals belonging to four species (Trionyx triunguis, Cyclanorbis senegalensis, Pelomedusa sp. and Pelusios castaneus) were recorded; for 139 individuals the precise capture sites and habitat type were recorded, whereas 71 individuals were observed in market places and were not considered in our analyses. We observed three sympatric species at the local scale of the various study sites. In each site, the dominant species was either C. senegalensis or Pelomedusa sp. However, Pelomedusa sp. was the most abundant species in temporary waterbodies whereas C. senegalensis was more numerous in permanent ones. A Multiple Correspondence Analysis visualized that, in permanent waterbodies all species were associated with similar physical habitat variables. C. senegalensis and T. triunguis were more abundant in localities containing woody emergent vegetation and inorganic substrate. In a Canonical Correspondence Analysis, we show that the density of herbaceous emergent vegetation was more important for P. castaneus than for C. senegalensis. Interviews with local people suggested that freshwater turtles do not have any special marketing interest for them, but that over shing may have considerably affected the population density of these semiaquatic reptiles. Overall, Comparisons of diversity metrics between our study areas and previous literature revealed that turtle community composition was substantially the same, both qualitatively and quantitatively, all throughout the savannahs of West Africa.

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Food Habits of a Pelomedusid Turtle, Pelomedusa subrufa, in Tropical Africa (Nigeria): The Effects of Sex, Body Size, Season, and Site

Cited by 13 publications

References 17 publications

Turtles and Tortoises of Togo: Historical Data, Distribution, Ecology, and Conservation

Turtles and Tortoises of Togo: Historical Data, Distribution, Ecology, and Conservation

Adapting a Traditional Hunting Technique to Improve Capture Rates for the Endangered Yellow-Footed Tortoise (Chelonoidis denticulatus) during Ecological Surveys in Amazonia

Community Characteristics of Sympatric Freshwater Turtles from Savannah Waterbodies in Ghana

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