Where Has Turtle Ecology Been, and Where Is It Going?

Gibbons, J. Whitfield; Lovich, Jeffrey E.

doi:10.1655/d-18-00054

Cited by 29 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 205 publications

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“…The pivotal temperature is the temperature at which the ratio of male to female turtles is 1:1 for species that exhibit TSD [59], and some species exhibit geographical variation in the pivotal temperature between male and female offspring [60]. Oddly, there are apparently no published studies confirming that hatchlings identified as one sex, as determined by incubation temperatures, are indeed that sex at sexual maturity [61]. Nonetheless, warmer temperatures may exceed the pivotal temperature and are most frequently linked with an increase in feminization in turtles that exhibit TSD.…”

Section: Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In southeastern Asia, for example, conditions are expected to become drier in most countries, excluding the Philippines, which may lead to habitat loss for freshwater turtles [134]. However, there have been very few studies that investigated this, and further research is called for to investigate the effects of increasing drought frequency and severity on chelonians [61]. In other areas, extreme flooding events may increase in duration and frequency [87], but little is known about how this may affect turtles.…”

Section: Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Review of the Effects of Climate Change on Chelonians

Butler

2019

Diversity

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Climate change is occurring at an unprecedented rate and has begun to modify the distribution and phenology of organisms worldwide. Chelonians are expected to be particularly vulnerable due to limited dispersal capabilities as well as widespread temperature-dependent sex determination. The number of papers published about the effects of climate change on turtles has increased exponentially over the last decade; here, I review the data from peer-reviewed publications to assess the likely impacts of climate change on individuals, populations, and communities. Based upon these studies future research should focus on: (1) Individual responses to climate change, particularly with respect to thermal biology, phenology, and microhabitat selection; (2) improving species distribution models by incorporating fine-scale environmental variables as well as physiological processes; (3) identifying the consequences of skewed sex ratios; and (4) assessments of community resilience and the development of methods to mitigate climate change impacts. Although detailed management recommendations are not possible at this point, careful consideration should be given regarding how to manage low vagility species as habitats shift poleward. In the worst-case scenario, proactive management may be required in order to ensure that widespread losses do not occur.

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Section: Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of the Effects of Climate Change on Chelonians

Butler

2019

Diversity

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“…Then, maintaining a global model structure for survival and transition, we evaluated support for all single factors (year, life stage, stream, ENSO; models 3-6) and maintain recapture probability as constant (model 7). Subsequently, we selected the most supported model structure for recapture probabilities and repeated this process for transition and survival (models [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. In cases where the differences between models were ∆AIC c < 2.0, we tested additive and multiplicative effects between variables.…”

Section: Data Handling and Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Extreme climatic variation and climate warming have been identified as other factors that potentially affect turtle populations [8][9][10]. With respect to temperature, warming may skew sex ratios in populations of the many turtle species that have temperature-dependent sex determination [11][12][13][14], as well as alter the phenology of nesting and nest emergence [9,10]. On the other hand, variation in precipitation can change net primary productivity (NPP), thereby affecting the food supply, body condition, and reproductive output in populations of different species [15], including turtles and tortoises [16,17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long-Term Variation in Survival of A Neotropical Freshwater Turtle: Habitat and Climatic Influences

2019

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Few long-term demographic studies have been conducted on freshwater turtles of South America, despite the need for this type of inquiry to investigate natural variation and strengthen conservation efforts for these species. In this study, we examined the variation in demography of the Chocoan River Turtle (Rhinoclemmys nasuta) based on a population from an island locality in the Colombian Pacific region between 2005 and 2017. We calculated survival, recapture, and transition probabilities, and the effects of stream substrate and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases (El Niño, Neutral, La Niña) on these variables using a multi-state model. We found differences in survival probabilities between ENSO phases, likely as a consequence of an increase in flood events. In addition, we found support for survival being greater in muddy streams than rocky streams, possibly because it is easier to escape or hide in mud substrates. Recapture probabilities varied by life stages; differences in the probability of recapture between size classes were associated with the high fidelity to territories by adults. The present increases in frequency and severity of El Niño and La Niña may exacerbate the consequences of climatic regimes on natural populations of turtles by increasing the mortality caused by drastic phenomena such as floods.Diversity 2019, 11, 97 2 of 12 scenarios [18][19][20]. The slow life history of turtles makes it necessary for long-term demographic research to generate information relevant to their conservation [21][22][23]. Long-term studies have been relatively common in the north temperate zone, including data of up to three decades' duration on threatened species [24][25][26]. For South America, this kind of long-term research is rare; only the research of Martins and Souza on Hydromedusa maximiliani has included data collected for longer than a decade [27].With 27 species of terrestrial and freshwater turtles, Colombia is considered the seventh most species-rich country in the world, and third at the level of South America behind Brazil and Ecuador [28]. Despite this great diversity, turtles are far from being one of the best-studied animal groups in Colombia; many aspects of their basic biology remain unknown, and long-term research is almost nonexistent or just beginning to be published [29,30]. Among the freshwater turtles recorded in Colombia, the Chocoan River Turtle, Rhinoclemmys nasuta (Geoemydidae), is found only in Colombia and Ecuador [31], and its conservation status is categorized as near-threatened (NT) globally [3], NT in Colombia [32], and endangered (E) in Ecuador [33]. As a consequence of the threatened status of this species, we began studying an island population of R. nasuta in 2005 on Isla Palma, Bahía Málaga, in the central Pacific coastal region of the Department of Valle del Cauca in Colombia [31,34].Using information recorded on R. nasuta during the sampling efforts conducted between 2005 and 2017 on Isla Palma, this research has the goal of evaluating the long-term variation in su...

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Optimizing road underpass design to maximize use by a freshwater turtle (Chelodina oblonga)

Santoro,

Newsome,

Regan

et al. 2023

Aquatic Conservation

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Roads affect the connectivity of habitat and inhibit movements of animals as a result of road avoidance and road‐related mortalities. Freshwater turtles are particularly vulnerable to mortality on roads, as females must often cross them when they leave the aquatic environment to nest. Ecopassages designed to enable safe movement across roads by wild animals may be an effective measure to reduce adverse impacts. Limited information exists, however, on effective design criteria for freshwater turtles. A willingness‐to‐utilize study was used to assess factors that may influence the use of a tunnel underpass by the southwestern snake‐necked turtle (Chelodina oblonga), a species whose populations are declining, in part, through road‐related mortalities of nesting females. Female C. oblonga were sourced from an urban wetland and placed in an enclosure with exits of varying tunnel lengths (12 and 25 m) and lighting treatments (‘light’ and ‘dark’) to assess the conditions that would promote successful passage. Generalized linear modelling showed that light treatments had a significantly increased likelihood of successful and faster passage for both 12 and 25 m tunnels than the dark treatments. Tunnel length had no effect either on success or rate of passage. This study provides the first account of the factors that may optimize successful tunnel passage by C. oblonga to reduce road‐related mortality, contributing to the conservation and management of the species and freshwater turtles more generally.

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Where Has Turtle Ecology Been, and Where Is It Going?

Cited by 29 publications

References 205 publications

A Review of the Effects of Climate Change on Chelonians

A Review of the Effects of Climate Change on Chelonians

Long-Term Variation in Survival of A Neotropical Freshwater Turtle: Habitat and Climatic Influences

Optimizing road underpass design to maximize use by a freshwater turtle (Chelodina oblonga)

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