Arkansas Project: Population demography and connectivity of Spotted Turtles on an urban military installation

Arkansas Project

Population demography and connectivity of Spotted Turtles on an urban military installation

March 2016 - August 2020

Personnel

Participating Agencies

University of Arkansas Graduate School

Spotted turtles are considered endangered by the IUCN and are a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in all 21 U.S. states in which they occur, including Virginia where they were once common. Northern Virginia is one of the fastest developing areas of the country and spotted turtle habitat has been rapidly lost. One area where they are still abundant is on the protected Fort Belvoir, VA. Working with Dr. Jinelle Sperry of the US Army Corps of Engineers, graduate student Ellery Lassiter and I are studying the population demography and movement patterns of turtles on the installation. Using capture-mark-recapture techniques as well as radio-telemetry we are exploring how the populations on Fort Belvoir are faring, if turtles from different areas of the installation are connected, and if Fort Belvoir is acting as a source population for other nearby natural areas. Results from this study will directly inform management activities on Fort Belvoir and will assist the installation biologists with consultation with the USFWS if the species is listed.

Research Publications

Research Publications	Publication Date
Lassiter, E.V., J.H. Sperry, and B.A. DeGregorio. 2023. Movement ecology of adult and juvenile spotted turtles (Clemmys guttata) in a seasonally dynamic environment. Wildlife Research \| Abstract	April 2023	<i>Context.</i> Understanding the temporal and spatial scale at which wildlife move is vital for conservation and management. This is especially important for semi-aquatic species which make frequent inter-wetland movements to fulfill life-history requirements.<br><i>Aims. </i>We investigate the drivers of movement and space-use of the imperiled spotted turtle (<i>Clemmys guttata</i>), an ephemeral wetland specialist, in three large, isolated wetland complexes in Virginia, U.S.A.<br><i>Methods. </i>We use VHF radio-transmitters to radio-locate adult and juvenile turtles and estimate movement and space-use during their active and aestivation seasons (March - August). We then use generalized linear mixed models to examine how movement and space-use varied based on intrinsic turtle characteristics and extrinsic wetland and climatic features.<br><i>Key results. </i>We showed that on average individual spotted turtles used 5 wetlands per year (range 3 – 13) and that their inter-wetland movement and daily movement distance varied seasonally in accordance with wetland availability and breeding phenology. Spotted turtle movement and space-use was influenced by the arrangement and size of the wetland complexes, with turtles moving farther and occupying larger home-ranges as size and distance between wetlands increased. Inter-wetland movement was not influenced by intrinsic turtle effects but larger adult turtles moved further, used more wetlands, and had larger home-ranges than smaller turtles.<i> </i><br><i>Conclusions. </i>Turtle response to variation in season and wetland configuration highlight the need for complex and dynamic landscapes that are required to sustain this species.<br><i>Implications. </i>This study has important conservation implications showing that spotted turtles rely on a large number of diverse wetlands as well as upland habitat to fulfill their resource needs and that these habitat associations vary seasonally. And more broadly, results from our study can aid in the understanding of the spatial and temporal variation in patch characteristics (e.g. quality and extent) and inter-patch movement by organisms, which is critical for the conservation and management of semi-aquatic species and other species that occupy patchy habitat systems.<i> </i>

Presentations

Presentations	Presentation Date
Spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) movement patterns in an urbanized landscape. Lassiter, E.V., B.A. DeGregorio, and J.H. Sperry. 2020. Arkansas Chapter of the Wildlife Society	March 2020
Ruther, E.V., B.A. DeGregorio, and J.H. Sperry. 2020. Drivers of Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata) Movement and Space Use in an Urbanized Landscape	September 2020

Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations	Publication Date
Ellery V. Lassiter. 2022. Seasonal Patterns in Activity and Occupancy Dynamics of the Imperiled Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata). Dissertation Defense. University of Arkansas.	December 2022

Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Arkansas Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources