Ecology of neonate eastern box turtles with prescribed fire implications

Abstract

Little is known about the movements and behavior of neonate eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina). We investigated spatial ecology of neonate eastern box turtles at 4 upland openings in the Manistee National Forest, Michigan, USA, 2012–2016. We protected nests and used radio‐telemetry to document dispersal from nests, land cover types used for overwintering, and residency time of neonates in natal openings. We used binomial logistic regression to model probabilities of overwintering in natal openings versus adjacent forest and edge. We protected 64 nests, radio‐fitted 64 neonates over 4 cohort years, tracked 46 neonates from nest emergence to their overwintering sites, and tracked 28 neonates for portions of their second activity season. Dispersal (straight‐line distance from nest to overwintering site) was limited in the first activity season (n = 46 neonates, truex¯ = 19.9 ± 2.4 m [SE], range = 1.9–83.2 m) and 24 overwintered in natal openings, 4 overwintered in the forest edge, and 18 overwintered in forest. Our best logistic model included the predictor variables distance from nest to nearest forest edge and day of nest emergence. Probability of overwintering within a natal opening was greater for neonates from nests located farther from the forest edge and for neonates emerging from nests later in the year. By 1 June of their second activity season, all tracked turtles were still present in, or within 50 m, of their natal opening, but all neonates had dispersed into surrounding forest or wetlands by 1 July. Managers should be aware that neonates reside in or very near their natal openings for several months after nest emergence. When burning or otherwise intensively managing open canopy box turtle nesting areas, relaxing the interval (yr) between treatments and excluding forest edge and adjacent forest should allow neonates time to disperse, decreasing risk of mortality. © 2018 The Wildlife Society.

Nest-Site Fidelity and Sex-Biased Dispersal Affect Spatial Genetic Structure of Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) at Their Northern Range Edge

“…Limited direct dispersal data (e.g., from mark-recapture or radio-telemetry studies) exist for Eastern Box Turtles. Laarman et al (2018) show that neonate dispersal from nests at our study site is extremely limited within the first activity season. Mean straight-line dispersal distance from nests to the first overwintering sites was less than 20.0 m (Laarman et al, 2018).…”

“…Laarman et al (2018) show that neonate dispersal from nests at our study site is extremely limited within the first activity season. Mean straight-line dispersal distance from nests to the first overwintering sites was less than 20.0 m (Laarman et al, 2018). Although movement away from the nest tended to increase in the second activity season, Laarman et al (2018) were unable to examine movement differences by sex as sexing these age classes is impossible without using invasive methods.…”

“…Mean straight-line dispersal distance from nests to the first overwintering sites was less than 20.0 m (Laarman et al, 2018). Although movement away from the nest tended to increase in the second activity season, Laarman et al (2018) were unable to examine movement differences by sex as sexing these age classes is impossible without using invasive methods. To our knowledge, no direct data on juvenile dispersal and home range establishment (or lack thereof) exist for box turtles, which is likely a reflection of the difficulty of collecting these data for such a long-lived species.…”

“…Box turtles in MNF use predominantly upland forest habitat (mixed hardwoods dominated by oaks) and tend to be associated with lowland riparian areas (Laarman, 2017). Reproductive females use remnant patches of oak-pine barrens, pine barrens, and dry sand prairie to nest and these habitat types are limited in MNF (Laarman et al, 2018).…”

Macro- and Microhabitat Predictors of Nest Success and Hatchling Survival in Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) and Spotted Turtles (Clemmys guttata) in Oak Savanna Landscapes

“…Nesting relatively close to edges, despite lower nest success near edges, is suggestive of a trade-off between selection pressure on a different life stage: perhaps hatchlings' access to other macrohabitat types that may confer higher juvenile survival is an important driver of nesting relatively close to edges. We found no evidence of increased juvenile survival from nests near macrohabitat edges, but nest distance to forest edge was the strongest predictor of a juvenile's eventual overwintering site in a more northern box turtle population (Laarman et al, 2018), and in a separate study on these same populations we found that most hatchling box turtles overwintered in forest or forest edge habitat (Hulbert, 2020). A useful avenue for future research would be to explore other potential life-history tradeoffs that might explain the propensity to nest near edges that confer relatively low nest success or determine if this is simply a negative edge effect, and to identify the mechanism that might underlie such an edge effect.…”