Home Range and Habitat Selection of the Endangered Euphrates Softshell Turtle<i>Rafetus euphraticus</i>in a Fragmented Habitat in Southwestern Iran

Ghaffari, Hanyeh; Ihlow, Flora; Plummer, Michael V.; Karami, Mahmoud; Khorasani, Nematollah; Safaei-Mahroo, Barbod; Rödder, Dennis

doi:10.2744/ccb-1071.1

Cited by 17 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The present study increases our knowledge of turtle home range size, habitat use, and movement patterns of K. integrum turtles. The methodology utilized in this study examined 37 turtles using radiotelemetry; most recent studies have utilized under 25 individuals (Ennen & Scott, ; Ghaffari et al., ; Kapfer, Muñoz, Groves, & Kirk, ). Furthermore, the current study was conducted for 3.5 years, whereas previous studies have only monitored movements for 1 calendar year or less (Belleau, ; Rowe et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…T A B L E 4 Mean of home range of some species of family Kinosternidae (including Kinosternon integrum) calculated by: minimum convex polygon (▷), 50% KDE (•), and 95% KDE (○). Data expressed in scientific notation ✧ 10 −1 ; ✧✧ 10 −2 ; ✧✧✧ 10 −3 (Ennen & Scott, 2013;Ghaffari et al, 2014;Kapfer, Muñoz, Groves, & Kirk, 2013). Furthermore, the current study was conducted for 3.5 years, whereas previous studies have only monitored movements for 1 calendar year or less (Belleau, 2008;Rowe et al, 2009).…”

Section: Terrestrial Movements Have Been Recorded In Other Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How far do adult turtles move? Home range and dispersal of Kinosternon integrum

Pérez-Pérez

López‐Moreno

Suárez-Rodríguez

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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We describe the home range and movements of a population of Kinosternon integrum in Tonatico, Estado de México, México, over 3.5 years (during rainy and dry season months) using radiotelemetry in 37 adult turtles. The results showed that the home range of K. integrum was 0.151 ± 0.051 ha using 50% kernel density estimator (KDE), and 0.657 ± 0.214 ha using 95% KDE; the home range did not vary between sexes. Kinosternon integrum showed low distances traveled 51.44 ± 4.50 m, where 87.3% (n = 373) of movements were <100 m. The distance traveled differed by season, and movement category (aquatic and terrestrial movements). The shortest distance occurred during the dry season, during which some individuals move to estivation sites, and these movements were shorter than movements to artificial ponds (cattle ponds). In this population, home range and movement are similar to other species of the genus Kinosternon. Overall, the results indicate than K. integrum are highly dependent on aquatic habitats, but also utilize the terrestrial habitats for different biological activities, and to maintain viable populations. Therefore, the conservation of the entire inhabited area is fundamental. This study highlights the need to increase the studies, in Central México, concerning habitat use of freshwater turtles in order to increase the efficiency of conservation strategies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Terrestrial Movements Have Been Recorded In Other Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

How far do adult turtles move? Home range and dispersal of Kinosternon integrum

Pérez-Pérez

López‐Moreno

Suárez-Rodríguez

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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“…The HSM in comparison with real occurrence records suggests that dam construction along with drainage and channelization have already caused severe fragmentation and hampered population connectivity for decades. Given the home range sizes, territoriality and habitat selection of R. euphraticus (Ghaffari et al ., ), only large interconnected wetlands are considered suitable future conservation areas. Regarding habitat suitability, size, accessibility and coverage with reserves as well as recent and future dam constructions, the interconnected system of wetlands located in south‐western Iran, including the Shadegan Wildlife Refuge (IUCN category IV), and the Karkheh and Dez Protected Areas (IUCN category V) which are connected by the Karun River, is considered a particularly important stronghold for R. euphraticus , although the recent construction of the Dez, Karkheh, and Gotvand Dams and the current upstream construction of the Bakhtiari and the Seimare Dams may cause some habitat alterations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of genetic structure, habitat suitability and effectiveness of reserves for future conservation planning of the Euphrates soft‐shelled turtle Rafetus euphraticus (Daudin, 1802)

Ihlow

Ahmadzadeh

Ghaffari

et al. 2014

Aquatic Conservation

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The endangered Euphrates soft‐shelled turtle, Rafetus euphraticus, is endemic to the Mesopotamian River Basin in the Middle East. Within recent decades, populations of this aquatic species have been heavily depleted and severely fragmented owing to habitat alteration and destruction by drainage and hydroelectricity dam constructions. Continuing habitat loss and fragmentation are considered the main drivers for the population decline of R. euphraticus.Intraspecific genetic variability was investigated using two mitochondrial gene fragments for 31 specimens covering most of the distributional range of the species. Habitat suitability models were computed using a combination of bioclimatic and remote sensing variables as environmental predictors to assess habitat suitability, habitat fragmentation and coverage by designated protected areas across the range of R. euphraticus.Beyond single substitutions in two sequences, no significant genetic variation could be detected in R. euphraticus. Models show habitat suitability to be high throughout the range of the species, although only a fraction is currently covered by reserves. Habitat suitability and coverage of reserves is highly variable among countries. South‐western Iran appears to be of major importance for future conservation strategies. Suitability models are in concordance with the habitat selection patterns of R. euphraticus.The existing reserve system is considered insufficient and has to be significantly improved in order to sustain viable populations of R. euphraticus. To counter continuing fragmentation and alteration by dam construction, future conservation measures should focus on highlighted priority areas. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…; Ghaffari et al. ). All calculations were performed in R using the following packages: adehabitatHR, adehabitatLT (Calenge ), SDMTools (Van Der Wal et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…To test whether home ranges reflect site fidelity rather than nomadic movement, we compared the actual homerange size in terms of K75 kernel density estimates and MCP95s with null distributions obtained from "random walk models" (RWMs): For each specimen, we computed 1000 simulations based on a bootstrap approach using randomizations of the respective turning angle and distances between successive fixes of the real radio-tracking data (see also Munger 1984;Spencer et al 1990;Ghaffari et al 2014). All calculations were performed in R using the following packages: adehabitatHR, adehabitatLT (Calenge 2006), SDMTools (Van Der Wal et al 2014), maptools (Bivand and Lewin-Koh 2015), raster (Hijmans 2015), and fields (Nychka et al 2015).…”

Section: Null Model Home Rangesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kenyan endemic bird species at home in novel ecosystem

Habel

Teucher

Rödder

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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Riparian thickets of East Africa harbor a large number of endemic animal and plant species, but also provide important ecosystem services for the human being settling along streams. This creates a conflicting situation between nature conservation and land‐use activities. Today, most of this former pristine vegetation is highly degraded and became replaced by the invasive exotic Lantana camara shrub species. In this study, we analyze the movement behavior and habitat use of a diverse range of riparian bird species and model the habitat availability of each of these species. We selected the following four riparian bird species: Bare‐eyed Thrush Turdus tephronotus, Rufous Chatterer Turdoides rubiginosus, Zanzibar Sombre Greenbul Andropadus importunus insularis, and the Kenyan endemic Hinde′s Babbler Turdoides hindei. We collected telemetric data of 14 individuals during a 2 months radio‐tracking campaign along the Nzeeu River in southeast Kenya. We found that (1) all four species had similar home‐range sizes, all geographically restricted and nearby the river; (2) all species mainly use dense thicket, in particular the invasive L. camara; (3) human settlements were avoided by the bird individuals observed; (4) the birds' movement, indicating foraging behavior, was comparatively slow within thickets, but significantly faster over open, agricultural areas; and (5) habitat suitability models underline the relevance of L. camara as suitable surrogate habitat for all understoreyed bird species, but also show that the clearance of thickets has led to a vanishing of large and interconnected thickets and thus might have negative effects on the population viability in the long run.

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Home Range and Habitat Selection of the Endangered Euphrates Softshell TurtleRafetus euphraticusin a Fragmented Habitat in Southwestern Iran

Cited by 17 publications

References 37 publications

How far do adult turtles move? Home range and dispersal of Kinosternon integrum

How far do adult turtles move? Home range and dispersal of Kinosternon integrum

Assessment of genetic structure, habitat suitability and effectiveness of reserves for future conservation planning of the Euphrates soft‐shelled turtle Rafetus euphraticus (Daudin, 1802)

Kenyan endemic bird species at home in novel ecosystem

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