Abstract
The Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) is a species of conservation concern in the Upper Midwest of the USA. State agencies and partners in the region are working collaboratively to identify threats to G. insculpta populations and to implement effective management actions. One component of this conservation initiative is to improve our understanding of the impacts of different management strategies on long-term viability of populations. This requires estimates of population vital rates, which are currently lacking for most G. insculpta populations in the Upper Midwest and across the range of the species. In this study, we used individual-level monitoring data to estimate annual survival of adult G. insculpta in Iowa (two populations, four monitoring years, 52 individuals), Minnesota (one population, two monitoring years, 29 individuals), and Wisconsin (two populations, two monitoring years, 32 individuals). We estimated annual survival for each sex, population, and year using a known-fates analysis with a binomial model. Twenty-three (20%) of the monitored individuals died during the study. For 12 turtles for which we knew the cause, predation was responsible for most (n = 9; 75%) mortalities. Estimated annual survival of males and females ranged from 0.49–1.00 and 0.64–1.00, respectively, among populations and years. Estimated survival of all individuals was 0.86 in Iowa for 2012–2015, 0.89 in Minnesota for 2015–2016, and 0.87 in Wisconsin for 2014–2015. This study increases our understanding of adult G. insculpta survival rates and causes of mortality in the western Great Lakes portion of the range of the species and provides useful vital rate estimates for population viability analyses.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 668-679 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Herpetological Conservation and Biology |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| State | Published - Dec 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:in Iowa was funded by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (Permit No. SC-648) through a Competitive State Wildlife Grant (No. F14AP00013) contracted to the University of Northern Iowa (UNI; Jeff Tamplin, Principle Investigator). We thank Samuel W. Berg, Jeremy P. George, Joshua G. Otten, and Jessica J. Williams (M.S. students at the University of Northern Iowa) for assistance with radio telemetry and field work and the Department of Biology and the College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences of the University of Northern Iowa for funding.
Funding Information:
Glyptemys insculpta research in Wisconsin was funded by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources through a Competitive State Wildlife Grant (No. F14AP00041), with additional financial support provided by the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin. The Animal Care and Use Committee of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (No. 14_ Lapin_01) approved sampling and handling methods. We thank Andrew Badje, Tiffany A. Bougie, Joel Flory, Laura Jaskiewicz, Kathy Kafura, Matt Schumaker, and Erik Wild for assistance with radio telemetry and field work.
Funding Information:
Glyptemys insculpta research in Iowa was funded by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (Permit No. SC-648) through a Competitive State Wildlife Grant (No. F14AP00013) contracted to the University of Northern Iowa (UNI; Jeff Tamplin, Principle Investigator). We thank Samuel W. Berg, Jeremy P. George, Joshua G. Otten, and Jessica J. Williams (M.S. students at the University of Northern Iowa) for assistance with radio telemetry and field work and the Department of Biology and the College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences of the University of Northern Iowa for funding. Glyptemys insculpta research in Minnesota was funded by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources through a Competitive State Wildlife Grant (No. F14AP00028), with additional financial support provided to Madaline Cochrane through a summer fellowship of the University of Minnesota Integrated Biosciences Graduate Program. Donald Brown was supported during manuscript preparation by the McIntire Stennis project WVA00122 of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of Minnesota (Protocol No. 1504-32514A) approved sampling and handling methods, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources permitted this research. We thank Katelin Goebel, Kelcy Huston, Cord Reno, and Ashlee Ricci for assistance with radio telemetry and field work. Glyptemys insculpta research in Wisconsin was funded by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources through a Competitive State Wildlife Grant (No. F14AP00041), with additional financial support provided by the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin. The Animal Care and Use Committee of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (No. 14_ Lapin_01) approved sampling and handling methods. We thank Andrew Badje, Tiffany A. Bougie, Joel Flory, Laura Jaskiewicz, Kathy Kafura, Matt Schumaker, and Erik Wild for assistance with radio telemetry and field work.
Funding Information:
Glyptemys insculpta research in Minnesota was funded by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources through a Competitive State Wildlife Grant (No. F14AP00028), with additional financial support provided to Madaline Cochrane through a summer fellowship of the University of Minnesota Integrated Biosciences Graduate Program. Donald Brown was supported during manuscript preparation by the McIntire Stennis project WVA00122 of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of Minnesota (Protocol No. 1504-32514A) approved sampling and handling methods, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources permitted this research. We thank Katelin Goebel, Kelcy Huston, Cord Reno, and Ashlee Ricci for assistance with radio telemetry and field work.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019. Carly N. Lapin All Rights Reserved.
Keywords
- Adult
- Iowa
- Midwest
- Minnesota
- Modeling
- Population
- Predation
- Wisconsin
