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The status of Blanding's Turtles, Emydoidea blandingii, in Nova Scotia, Canada

1995; Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club; Volume: 109; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5962/p.357610

0008-3550

Thomas B. Herman, Terrance D. Power, Brian R. Eaton,

Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses

Blanding's Turtle, Emydoidea blandingii, is a northern freshwater species with a distribution centered im the Great Lakes region.Numerous isolated populations exist along the periphery of the range: of these, the Nova Scotia population is the most isolated.Most individuals m the Nova Scotia population occur withm Kejimkujik National Park in southwest Nova Scotia, where they are confined primanily to three centres of activity.all associated with darkly coloured waters and peaty sous.Capture-mark-recapture and radiotracking data show long-distance nesting migrations by females and exceptionally long overland movements by some males.This vagility, in combination with observations of promiscuous mating, suggests the Nova Scotia population is panmictic.Historical and recent records show that scattered mdividuals occur m low numbers outside the Park.The adult population withm the Park is estimated to be 132 (95% confidence mtervals: 99-179).Densities are substantially lower than those reported for other populations.The age structure im this population appears topheavy: of 48 individuals aged.31 exceeded 30 years.This suggests that longevity and reproductive lifespan are extended.but that recruitment is low.Reproductive potential is apparently compromised by-(1) the limited availability of suitable nesting areas (substrate, exposure, susceptibility to floodmeg); and (2) low egg and hatchlmeg survivorship (due to raccoon predation, flooding and a short growing season).These factors, m combmation with late age af maturation, underlie the importance of high survivorship of breeding adults to the contmued existence of this population.The recommended status of the Nova Scotia Blandimg's Turtle population is threatened.