LE3 .A278 2014

2014

Mockford, Steve
Smith, Duncan

Acadia University

Master of Science

Masters

Biology

Biology

With an estimated population of 350 adults, the population of Blanding’s turtles in Nova Scotia is listed as Endangered both federally and provincially. Headstarting is used in Nova Scotia as part of the recovery program and is designed to improve the survivorship of turtles at an early life history stage. In 2009 and 2010, the largest Blanding’s turtle headstarting effort to date in Nova Scotia was undertaken with eggs collected from Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site (KNP). These eggs were incubated and hatched at Oaklawn Zoo, Aylesford, Nova Scotia, and the hatchlings were subsequently raised in captivity for two years. A total of 154 headstarted turtles were re-introduced into KNP during the summers of 2011 and 2012. A total of 29 headstarted turtles released at Atkins Brook were tracked using radio telemetry to study growth and movement. For comparative purposes, 7 wild incubated turtles were also collected and tagged for radio tracking. Turtles were tracked weekly from April to November 2012 to collect movement data and were measured the first week of every month. For the purpose of analysis, turtles were divided into 4 groups: 2009-headstarts, 2010-headstarts, wild (3yrs), and wild (5-7). A pairwise comparison found a difference in movement rates between groups. Wild (5-7) turtles were found to have higher movement rates than all other groups (P < 0.1 for all cases). Headstarted and wild (3yrs) had similar movement rates. An ANCOVA test found no significant difference (F = 0.534, df = 3, P = 0.660) in growth rates of headstarted and wild turtles. These results suggest that headstarted turtles are able to adapt to the wild successfully, but further study on the long-term survival of headstarts will be important to determine the overall success of the headstarting program in Nova Scotia.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:328