Literaturdatenbank
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Drost, C. A., Lovich, J. E., Meulblok, M., Agha, M., Ennen, J. R., & Kliman, K. , Movement, activity patterns, and habitat use of sonora mud turtles (kinosternon sonoriense) at the northern end of their range - abstract. Unpublished paper presented at Program and Abstracts of the Tenth Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles.
Added by: Beate Pfau (06 Jan 2014 18:22:45 UTC) Last edited by: Beate Pfau (22 Jun 2014 08:22:27 UTC) |
| Resource type: Conference Paper BibTeX citation key: Drost View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Habitat - habitat, Nordamerika - North America, Schildkröten - turtles + tortoises Creators: Agha, Drost, Ennen, Kliman, Lovich, Meulblok Collection: Program and Abstracts of the Tenth Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles |
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| Abstract |
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The Sonora Mud Turtle has a limited distribution restricted to the desert Southwest of the United States and adjacent Mexico, and is one of the most poorly-known turtle species in the United States. We used radiotelemetry to track Sonora Mud Turtles in two sharply contrasting, but adjacent, habitats at a site near the northern edge of their range: Montezuma Well is a large, enclosed spring-pool, with near-constant year-round water temperatures, highly-carbonated, mineral-laden water, and a corresponding lack of fish and other aquatic vertebrates; Beaver Creek is a perennial stream that flows within 100 m of Montezuma Well, but has strong seasonal variations in flow and water temperature, and a more typical aquatic fauna, in addition to the mud turtles. Turtles in Montezuma Well took advantage of the stable water temperature and maintained activity throughout the year. In contrast, some turtles in Beaver Creek remained inactive through the cold winter, while others used areas of warm spring outflows and showed intermittent activity during the winter. Turtles in the creek had larger ranges and moved much greater distances than those in the confined area of Montezuma Well. Turtles in both the creek and the Well were primarily nocturnal in their activity, but marked individuals in the Well exhibited substantially more day activity than those in the creek. Turtles in the two contrasting habitats were strikingly different in their typical foraging modes: creek turtles employed the "bottom-crawling" generally characteristic of kinosternids, while Well turtles foraged by swimming actively among aquatic plants in the water column. Despite the proximity of the contrasting habitats, we also found differences in size between the sexes, shell morphology, and possibly growth rates between the turtle populations of the Well and the Creek.
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