Complementary Habitat Use of the Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) in the Georgia Piedmont. Bentley, K. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA, 2015. abstract bibtex Complementary habitats are typically recognized for species that require distinctly different habitat types, such as aquatic and terrestrial. However, these complementary habitats can be more subtle for species that occupy only a single habitat “type”, such as forests. Most turtles exhibit complementary habitats, occupying aquatic habitats with females making seasonal movements upland to nest. Eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina) are closely related to semi-aquatic Emydid aquatic turtles known to make extensive overland movements including upland migrations to complementary nesting habitats; and Eastern box turtles are known to utilize both upland and bottomland forests including river floodplain and wetland habitats. Whether Eastern box turtles utilize complementary habitats has not been examined. We used radiotelemetry to track 8 Eastern box turtles daily for 5 months in the Georgia Piedmont to find evidence of complementary habitat use. Our data show that all turtles had some if not most of their home range in bottomland, river floodplain forest; however, females also made repeated migrations between bottomland and upland forests, and a large portion of their home range including upland forest habitat. Females also had larger home ranges. Males seldom occurred outside bottomland forests and their home ranges were largely confined to the contour of the forested flood plain. Though males and females differed in both size and habitat within their home ranges, males and females had similar mean daily movement and cumulative distances moved over the 5 month period. Our results suggest that female Eastern box turtles exhibit complementary forest habitat requirements analogous to aquatic species within the same family. Based on the large home ranges encompassing areas in two habitats, and the high rates of movement, conservation considerations should focus on the vulnerability of females to repeated road crossings and interactions with suburban landscape features. In addition, both males and females require bottomland ecosystems, which are prone to degradation by pollution and invasive species. Conservation of bottomland forests may be more important for box turtles than is currently recognized.
@phdthesis{bentley_complementary_2015,
address = {Athens, Georgia, USA},
type = {Senior {Thesis}},
title = {Complementary {Habitat} {Use} of the {Eastern} {Box} {Turtle} ({Terrapene} carolina) in the {Georgia} {Piedmont}},
abstract = {Complementary habitats are typically recognized for species that require distinctly different habitat types, such as aquatic and terrestrial. However, these complementary habitats can be more subtle for species that occupy only a single habitat “type”, such as forests. Most turtles exhibit complementary habitats, occupying aquatic habitats with females making seasonal movements upland to nest. Eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina) are closely related to semi-aquatic Emydid aquatic turtles known to make extensive overland movements including upland migrations to complementary nesting habitats; and Eastern box turtles are known to utilize both upland and bottomland forests including river floodplain and wetland habitats. Whether Eastern box turtles utilize complementary habitats has not been examined. We used radiotelemetry to track 8 Eastern box turtles daily for 5 months in the Georgia Piedmont to find evidence of complementary habitat use. Our data show that all turtles had some if not most of their home range in bottomland, river floodplain forest; however, females also made repeated migrations between bottomland and upland forests, and a large portion of their home range including upland forest habitat. Females also had larger home ranges. Males seldom occurred outside bottomland forests and their home ranges were largely confined to the contour of the forested flood plain. Though males and females differed in both size and habitat within their home ranges, males and females had similar mean daily movement and cumulative distances moved over the 5 month period. Our results suggest that female Eastern box turtles exhibit complementary forest habitat requirements analogous to aquatic species within the same family. Based on the large home ranges encompassing areas in two habitats, and the high rates of movement, conservation considerations should focus on the vulnerability of females to repeated road crossings and interactions with suburban landscape features. In addition, both males and females require bottomland ecosystems, which are prone to degradation by pollution and invasive species. Conservation of bottomland forests may be more important for box turtles than is currently recognized.},
school = {University of Georgia},
author = {Bentley, Katherine},
year = {2015},
}
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Eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina) are closely related to semi-aquatic Emydid aquatic turtles known to make extensive overland movements including upland migrations to complementary nesting habitats; and Eastern box turtles are known to utilize both upland and bottomland forests including river floodplain and wetland habitats. Whether Eastern box turtles utilize complementary habitats has not been examined. We used radiotelemetry to track 8 Eastern box turtles daily for 5 months in the Georgia Piedmont to find evidence of complementary habitat use. Our data show that all turtles had some if not most of their home range in bottomland, river floodplain forest; however, females also made repeated migrations between bottomland and upland forests, and a large portion of their home range including upland forest habitat. Females also had larger home ranges. Males seldom occurred outside bottomland forests and their home ranges were largely confined to the contour of the forested flood plain. Though males and females differed in both size and habitat within their home ranges, males and females had similar mean daily movement and cumulative distances moved over the 5 month period. Our results suggest that female Eastern box turtles exhibit complementary forest habitat requirements analogous to aquatic species within the same family. Based on the large home ranges encompassing areas in two habitats, and the high rates of movement, conservation considerations should focus on the vulnerability of females to repeated road crossings and interactions with suburban landscape features. In addition, both males and females require bottomland ecosystems, which are prone to degradation by pollution and invasive species. Conservation of bottomland forests may be more important for box turtles than is currently recognized.","school":"University of Georgia","author":[{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Bentley"],"firstnames":["Katherine"],"suffixes":[]}],"year":"2015","bibtex":"@phdthesis{bentley_complementary_2015,\n\taddress = {Athens, Georgia, USA},\n\ttype = {Senior {Thesis}},\n\ttitle = {Complementary {Habitat} {Use} of the {Eastern} {Box} {Turtle} ({Terrapene} carolina) in the {Georgia} {Piedmont}},\n\tabstract = {Complementary habitats are\ttypically recognized for\tspecies that require\tdistinctly different habitat types, such\tas aquatic and terrestrial. However, these\tcomplementary\thabitats can be\tmore\t subtle for species that occupy only a single habitat “type”, such as forests. Most\tturtles exhibit complementary habitats, occupying\taquatic habitats with\tfemales making seasonal movements upland to nest. Eastern box turtles (Terrapene\tcarolina) are closely related to semi-aquatic Emydid aquatic\t turtles known to make extensive overland movements including upland migrations to complementary\t nesting habitats; and Eastern box turtles are known\t to utilize both upland and bottomland forests including\triver\tfloodplain\tand wetland habitats. Whether Eastern box turtles utilize complementary\t habitats has not been\texamined. We used radiotelemetry\tto track 8 Eastern box turtles daily for 5\t months in\tthe Georgia Piedmont\tto find evidence of complementary habitat use. Our data\tshow\t that\tall turtles had some if not most of their home\trange in bottomland, river floodplain\tforest; however, females also made repeated migrations between bottomland and upland forests, and a\tlarge portion of\t their home range\tincluding\tupland forest habitat. Females also had larger home\tranges. Males seldom occurred\toutside bottomland\tforests and their\thome ranges were largely confined to the\tcontour of the\t forested flood plain. Though males and\tfemales differed in both\tsize\tand habitat within\ttheir\thome ranges, males\tand females had similar mean\tdaily movement and cumulative distances\tmoved over the\t 5 month period. Our results suggest that female Eastern box turtles exhibit complementary forest habitat requirements analogous to aquatic species\twithin the same family. Based\ton the large home ranges encompassing areas in two habitats, and the high rates of\tmovement, conservation considerations should focus on the vulnerability of females to\trepeated road crossings and interactions with suburban landscape\tfeatures. In addition, both\tmales and\tfemales require\tbottomland ecosystems, which\tare prone to degradation by pollution and invasive species.\tConservation of bottomland forests may be more important for box turtles than is currently recognized.},\n\tschool = {University of Georgia},\n\tauthor = {Bentley, Katherine},\n\tyear = {2015},\n}\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","author_short":["Bentley, K."],"key":"bentley_complementary_2015","id":"bentley_complementary_2015","bibbaseid":"bentley-complementaryhabitatuseoftheeasternboxturtleterrapenecarolinainthegeorgiapiedmont-2015","role":"author","urls":{},"metadata":{"authorlinks":{}},"html":""},"bibtype":"phdthesis","biburl":"https://bibbase.org/zotero-group/jcmaerz/6026148","dataSources":["cEHounRE4nrKSn63i","jCzfhtqfYxC5Tyadj"],"keywords":[],"search_terms":["complementary","habitat","use","eastern","box","turtle","terrapene","carolina","georgia","piedmont","bentley"],"title":"Complementary Habitat Use of the Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) in the Georgia Piedmont","year":2015}