Literaturdatenbank
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Ferebee, K. , Movements and distribution of terrapene carolina in a large urban area, rock creek national park, washington, d.c. Paper presented at Third Box Turtle Conservation Workshop.
Added by: Admin (14 Aug 2008 20:33:43 UTC) |
| Resource type: Proceedings Article BibTeX citation key: Ferebee2007 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Habitat = habitat, Nordamerika = North America, Schildkröten = turtles + tortoises Creators: Ferebee Collection: Third Box Turtle Conservation Workshop |
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| Abstract |
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Rock Creek National Park is surrounded on all sides by the city of Washington, D.C. At 710 hectares, it is one of the largest National Parks located exclusively within a major U.S. city. It supports a diversity of habitats and is used extensively for human recreation. Because of increasing traffic on interior and adjacent roadways, and a decrease in the number of live Box Turtles observed in the Park, we initiated a study in 2001 to determine the distribution and status of the Eastern Box Turtle populations. We obtained information on the presence and distribution of Box Turtles throughout the park with visual encounter surveys of discrete sections of the park. As of 2004, 80 turtles have been marked and 27% have been recaptured. A 15.2 hectare study site was established in 2001 for monitoring marked and released turtles from May to October over multiple years. After 3 years, initial estimates of population density at this study site were low, ranging from 0.97 to 1.61 turtles/ha. To obtain information on habitat use and site fidelity, three female turtles fitted with radio transmitters were tracked during their active seasons. The home ranges for these three females, as defined by the term established activity range, was 2.0 ha (+/- 2.34 SD, range 0.4 to 4.8ha). We include selected case studies to illustrate how these turtles use this highly urbanized park. Today, the population study continues with additional turtles being fitted with radio transmitters and new and recaptured turtles still being recorded. Updated data will be presented. Given the older age structure, little to no sub adult recruitment, low productivity within Rock Creek Park, low population density, potential for high rates of road mortality particularly among adult females, the future survival of this population appears to be in jeopardy. Our findings allowed us to explore the option of relocating park turtles within a large urban park as a management strategy for maintaining their populations.
Added by: Admin |