LE3 .A278 2021

2021

Mockford, Steve
Easy, Russell

Acadia University

Master of Science

Masters

Biology

Biology

Chapter 2. Abstract: In 2016 a group of Blanding’s Turtles were discovered in a small area in southwestern Nova Scotia near the community of Bangs Falls. The surrounding area was used primarily by the near-by lumber mill for commercial tree harvesting. Blanding’s Turtles inhabit various wetland types throughout the year to meet their needs. Thus, the importance of understanding how much of the area was used by the turtles to facilitate protection of the land necessary for their survival. A capture-mark-recapture program has been conducted over four years in the area and morphological data for each individual was recorded. The time and heterogeneity model in the program MARK was used to estimate the number of turtles in the new area as well as to update estimates from the known subpopulations. The Bangs Falls turtles were observed using similar habitat as Blanding’s Turtles throughout their range. A total of 500 traps were set and 571 survey hours were done between May and August in 2018 and 2019. Resulting in 154 Blanding’s Turtles observations of 66 individuals. They are comparable in weight and length to the Blanding’s Turtles found in Pleasant River and McGowan Lake. The number of Blanding’s Turtles in the Bangs Falls subpopulationwas estimated to be 77-116 individuals. The total population estimate for Blanding’s Turtles in Nova Scotia increased from ~350 individuals to 557 (95% CI: 521-608) individuals. Chapter 3. Abstract: Hatching success in oviparous reptiles varies with environmental factors. The cool climate in Nova Scotia was likely a contributor to low hatching success in Blanding’s Turtles compared to other parts of their range (Standing et al.,1999). Nesting data for Blanding’s Turtles and environmental factors were recorded. Air temperature was used as a proxy to estimate nest temperatures. Temperature was the best criterion for predicting hatching success and was significantly better than models using variations of degree day. Although the nesting period for Blanding’s Turtles in Nova Scotia was similar to those throughout the species geographic range, the mean incubation period was up to 16 days longer and the average emergence rate was low (~42%). The model showed significant increase of hatching success with mean temperature and the data of hatch success over time showed an increasing trend. Rising temperatures will likely lead to increased hatching success of Blanding’s Turtles in Nova Scotia for a short period of time, until the temperature rises above that in which they can develop successfully. Additionally, rising temperature will skew sex ratios effectively putting the population at risk of extinction due to limited fertilization opportunities and decreased genetic diversity.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3629