Do Home Range, Movement Patterns, and Habitat Use of Ornate Box Turtles (Terrapene ornata ornata) Differ Among Age Classes?

Abstract

Ornate Box Turtles (Terrapene ornata ornata) exist in few large, reproductive populations in Iowa. Little is known about the home range, movements, and habitat use of neonates and young turtles or how movements change during maturation. We tracked four age classes of turtles from 2011 to 2016 and calculated weekly minimum convex polygon home range, every-other-day linear distance moved, habitat, microhabitat, and vegetation cover. We divided the active season into three blocks of time based on established patterns of behavior in Ornate Box Turtles. Age was the only significant factor explaining larger home ranges in older turtles during May and June–July, but there were no significant differences during August–September. However, linear distance moved significantly increased with age during all time periods. Turtles were mainly found in prairie or shrub–prairie habitats, but older turtles were more likely to move farther away from the nesting/breeding/overwintering area. While often on the surface, all age groups were found primarily under vegetation, shrubs, or trees that provided >95% vegetation cover. We suggest that habitat management for this state-threatened species consider the diverse habitats and area needed by all age classes.

Evaluating population persistence of ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornata) at the northeast edge of their distribution

“…We could estimate juvenile annual apparent survival at Ayers and Nachusa, though with low precision because of limited recaptures. Although one explanation is high juvenile mortality, another is the difficulty in detecting juveniles because they occupy different habitats, are more cryptic, or rarely move (Congdon et al 1993, Daigle and Jutras 2005, Pike et al 2008), with both likely for juvenile ornate box turtles (Bernstein et al 2023a). Also, the juvenile stage describes a range of size classes before maturation.…”

Longevity Estimates of Ornate Box Turtles (Terrapene ornata) in Iowa

“…Age itself can also relate to growth rate, which is useful in intraspecies comparisons to understand the degree and magnitude of differential selection acting upon populations across a species' range (Guderyahn et al 2023). In addition, turtles of different age classes vary in their habitat use as well as area used, both important considerations for wildlife conservation and habitat management (Bernstein et al 2023).…”