Survival and Causes of Mortality of Head-Started Western Pond Turtles on Pierce National Wildlife Refuge, Washington

The western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) is a species of conservation concern over much of its range and is listed as endangered in Washington State. From 2000 to 2004, we used radiotelemetry to document survival and mortality factors of head-started western pond turtles (n = 68) released into...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The Journal of wildlife management Vol. 73; no. 8; pp. 1402 - 1406
Main Authors:	Vander Haegen, W. Matthew, Clark, Steven L, Perillo, Kathleen M, Anderson, David P, Allen, Harriet L
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford, UK The Wildlife Society 01-11-2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects:	Actinemys marmorata Adults Age Animals Birds Carp Censorship Conservation endangered species Field study Habitat conservation head-starting MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION Mortality Mortality factors Nesting Ponds Population Predation Predators Recruitment refuge habitats Reptiles & amphibians Reptiles and Amphibians Riparian forests Sample size Survival Turtles Washington State western pond turtle Wildlife Wildlife conservation Wildlife management Wildlife refuges Washington USA, Washington
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Summary:	The western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) is a species of conservation concern over much of its range and is listed as endangered in Washington State. From 2000 to 2004, we used radiotelemetry to document survival and mortality factors of head-started western pond turtles (n = 68) released into Pierce National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Washington. Survival estimates for first year and older turtles ranged from 86% to 97% and overlapping confidence intervals indicated no detectible differences among age classes or among years. Subadult turtles released at ≥90-mm carapace length apparently avoided capture by most aquatic predators, indicating that terrestrial predators should be the focus of research and management where predation on larger age-classes is a concern. High annual survival combined with the documented nesting by ≥7-year-old female head-started turtles in Washington suggest that recruitment of adults is being achieved; however, head-starting is only practical as an interim solution and strategies for effective removal of aquatic predators must be developed and implemented where natural recruitment is inadequate to maintain populations.
Bibliography:	http://dx.doi.org/10.2193/2008-484 ark:/67375/WNG-5RVD0W1B-G istex:6E1940B5A7707EC101F2D49C706C262C6B7E3FBB ArticleID:JWMG560 ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:	0022-541X 1937-2817
DOI:	10.2193/2008-484