Prey Availability and Diet Analysis of Texas Diamond-Backed Terrapin (<i>Malaclemys terrapin littoralis</i>)

Alleman, Bryan J.; Guillen, George J.

doi:10.2744/ccb-1228.1

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Previous research has detected resource partitioning between large and small terrapins (Tucker et al 1995;Petrochic 2009;Butler et al 2012;Tulipani 2013;Alleman and Guillen 2017). In our study, the inclusion of size class in the top model helped to explain the variation in the magnitude of differences between isotope values from the tissue types and sites.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…Previous terrapin diet studies utilized fecal analysis, stomach flushing, or dissection (Tucker et al 1995;Spivey 1998;Butler et al 2012;Tulipani 2013;Denton et al 2015Denton et al , 2016Alleman and Guillen 2017). Several of these studies have shown that both males and immature females of a similar size had similar diets, but both groups had diets that differed from larger mature females.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several of these studies have shown that both males and immature females of a similar size had similar diets, but both groups had diets that differed from larger mature females. These differences may be because adult females have more powerful jaws, enabling them to consume a wider diversity of prey (Tucker et al 1995;Petrochic 2009;Butler et al 2012;Tulipani 2013;Alleman and Guillen 2017). A seasonal shift in diet was also reported in female terrapins, coincident with movements between habitats (Butler et al 2012;Alleman and Guillen 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These differences may be because adult females have more powerful jaws, enabling them to consume a wider diversity of prey (Tucker et al 1995;Petrochic 2009;Butler et al 2012;Tulipani 2013;Alleman and Guillen 2017). A seasonal shift in diet was also reported in female terrapins, coincident with movements between habitats (Butler et al 2012;Alleman and Guillen 2017). Although these analyses provided evidence of terrapin resource use, they may be biased towards food items that are less easily digested such as crab carapaces (McGaw 2006), while simultaneously underestimating contributions of soft-bodied prey.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stable Isotope Analysis Enhances Our Understanding of Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) Foraging Ecology

Denton

Demopoulos

Baldwin

et al. 2018

Estuaries and Coasts

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Dietary studies on generalist predators may provide valuable information on spatial or temporal changes in the structure of ecological communities. We initiated this study to provide baseline data and determine the utility of stable isotope analysis (SIA) to evaluate the foraging strategies of an opportunistic reptilian predator, the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin), which specializes in salt marshes and mangrove estuaries along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. We evaluated stable carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotope values of multiple tissues from terrapins inhabiting mainland and island mangrove habitats in south Florida and potential food sources to examine spatial and temporal variations in terrapin resource use. We fit linear regression models to determine the best predictors of isotopic values for both terrapins and their prey, and Stable Isotope Bayesian Ellipses in R (SIBER) analysis to examine terrapin isotopic niche space and overlap between groups. We identified differences in terrapin isotopic δ 13 C and δ 15 N values among all sites. Blood and scute tissues revealed different isotopic compositions and niche overlap between sites, suggesting diets or foraging locations may change over time, and amount of variation is site specific. Niche overlap between size classes was larger for blood (short term) versus scute (long term), suggesting greater variability in food habits or resource isotopes over the long term versus short term. These results demonstrate the usefulness of SIA in examining the spatial and temporal variability in diamondback terrapin resource use within estuary systems and further define their niche within these dynamic food webs.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stable Isotope Analysis Enhances Our Understanding of Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) Foraging Ecology

Denton

Demopoulos

Baldwin

et al. 2018

Estuaries and Coasts

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“…Diamondback terrapin diets have recently been studied in many parts of their range, including the westernmost populations (Alleman and Guillen 2017), the southernmost population (Denton et al 2016), northern populations (Erazmus 2012), the Bermuda population (Outerbridge et al 2017) as well as several other locations (reviewed by Tucker et al 2018).…”

Section: Malaclemysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do diets vary over large spatial or temporal ranges? A test using interannual and interpopulation data on Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) diets

et al. 2019

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Animal diets may vary spatially or temporally as resource availability vary. Diets of species with extensive geographic ranges often span multiple habitats, thus their diets may vary accordingly. Temporal diet variation is rarely explored because most diet studies are short term; this is problematic for long-lived species where individuals may persist as prey availability changes. We analyzed diet variation in Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin (Schoepf, 1793)), which inhabits nearly 70 000 km of United States Atlantic coastline, spanning 16.5°N latitude and 27.4°W longitude and four Köppen climatic zones, and Bermuda. We explored spatially or temporally Diamondback Terrapin diet variation, including populations from Atlantic salt marshes, an Everglades mangrove swamp, the Texas Gulf Coast, and a Caribbean golf course pond. We found remarkably high levels of similarity, indicating that although diets vary according to local prey availability, they are broadly similar at lower taxonomic resolution. Even short-term studies may be sufficient to accurately characterize diets of Diamondback Terrapins. These results are surprising given the geographic range sampled in this study and indicate that Diamondback Terrapin diets are conservative, reflecting local prey availability. Such diets apparently allow Diamondback Terrapins to exploit their extensive range and may allow Diamondback terrapin populations to persist as local prey species wax and wane.

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Isotopic niche of New Jersey terrapins suggests intraspecific resource partitioning, and little variability following a major hurricane

Denton

Hart

Wnek³

et al. 2023

Hydrobiologia

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Diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) are sexually dimorphic generalist turtles that inhabit salt marshes and estuaries along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. On October 29th, 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey, USA, directly impacting terrapin populations inhabiting central and southern Barnegat Bay. To examine potential food web mediated impacts to the terrapin population and their foraging dynamics we examined carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values collected from terrapin tissues (2011, 2015, 2019) and resource taxa (2015, 2019) within Barnegat Bay. Isotopic analysis revealed that mature females had lower carbon and higher nitrogen values than immature females and males with almost no isotopic niche overlap, whereas males and immature females had statistically similar values with overlapping niches. Terrapins and resources collected from island habitats contained higher carbon and nitrogen values than those from mainland habitats, with little overlap in niche between habitats. There were no significant temporal variations detected in either carbon or nitrogen values from terrapins between years, or within each habitat pre- and post-Hurricane Sandy. These findings suggest long-term terrapin foraging dynamics have remained relatively stable, signifying resilience to disturbance events within the study site.

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Prey Availability and Diet Analysis of Texas Diamond-Backed Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin littoralis)

Cited by 4 publications

References 18 publications

Stable Isotope Analysis Enhances Our Understanding of Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) Foraging Ecology

Stable Isotope Analysis Enhances Our Understanding of Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) Foraging Ecology

Do diets vary over large spatial or temporal ranges? A test using interannual and interpopulation data on Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) diets

Isotopic niche of New Jersey terrapins suggests intraspecific resource partitioning, and little variability following a major hurricane

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