Literaturdatenbank
Literaturdatenbank |
|
 |
|
Cooley, C. R., Smith, S. A., Geier, C. J., & Puentes, T. G. (2013). The use of photo-identification as a means of identifying western painted turtles (chrysemys picta bellii) in long-term demographic studies. Herpetological Review, 44(4), 430–432.
Added by: Sarina Wunderlich (06 Jul 2014 16:10:36 UTC) |
| Resource type: Journal Article BibTeX citation key: Cooley2013 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Habitat - habitat, Nordamerika - North America, Schildkröten - turtles + tortoises, Technik - equipment, Testudinidae, Testudo graeca Creators: Cooley, Geier, Puentes, Smith Collection: Herpetological Review |
Views: 3/628
Views index: 17% Popularity index: 4.25% |
| Abstract |
|
Critical to any successful long-term demographic study is the ability to accurately identify subjects during recapture events. Previous mark-recapture studies involving freshwater turtles have employed a number of various mutilation techniques such as toe clipping, notching of the shells, or the use of PIT tags. However, the use of mutilation techniques may present a potential risk to the turtles as notching or filing of the shell can cause fracture or lead to potential infections, particularly in hatchling and juvenile turtles (Cagle 1939). Additionally, there are ethical concerns when marking rare or endangered species. While the use of PIT tags can reduce the risk of injury, PIT tags cannot be used on hatchling or small juvenile turtles due to body size limitations (Buhlmann and Tuberville 1998). The use of photo-identification to identify individuals offers several advantages over other methods in that it is less invasive, eliminates the risk of injury or infection, and can be used to accurately identify hatchlings and juveniles on subsequent recaptures. Further, a photographic data base could have long-term applications that could be shared among researchers. However, in order for photo-identification to be reliable, the meristic character used for identification must be unique to each individual and must remain relatively unchanged over time. For example, plastron pigmentation in Midland Painted Turtles (Chysemys picta marginata) has been shown to change in response to environmental variables such as substrate color (Rowe et al. 2006a, 2006b, 2009). Juvenile pigmentation patterns may change as individuals mature, as in the case of plastron markings in juvenile Wood Turtles Glyptemys insculpta (Cowin and Cebek 2006). However, photo-identification has been successfully used to identify individuals in populations of Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum, Loafman 1991), Daruma Pond Frogs (Rana porosa brevipoda, Kurashina et al. 2003), Leatherback Turtles (Dermochelys coriacea, McDonald et al. 1996), and Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta, Schofield et al. 2008). The plastron markings of some species of turtles are unique to individuals and as such may provide an accurate means of identifying individuals during demographic studies. Janzen et al. (2000a; 2000b) used plastron marking to successfully identify hatchling and juvenile Red-eared Sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans). More recently, Tichy and Kintrova (2010) demonstrated that plastron morphology could be used to accurately identify individuals in populations of European Tortoises Testudo graeca ibera. To date, the use of photo-identification to identify individuals has not been employed in any long-term demographic studies on Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta). The Western Painted Turtle (C. p. bellii) possesses expansive and distinct plastron markings that make it an ideal candidate for the evaluation of photo-identification as an individual recognition technique.
Added by: Sarina Wunderlich |