A Study Of Head Started Blanding S Turtle Emydoidea Blandingii Hatchlings In Kejimkujik National Park

Reports a study conducted to: document the movement patterns of young Blandings turtles (Emydoidea blandingii); and identify areas used by young turtles as rearing grounds and hibernation sites. The study area was located in a park in south-western Nova Scotia. The turtles were hand-reared to an age when they could be fitted with radio transmitters and were then released at four sites, three located on small brooks and the fourth at a small pond. All release sites had boggy floodplain areas dominated by shrubs, grasses, and sphagnum moss. Tagged turtles were tracked daily for the first few days after release to determine whether they would move significantly after release. When determined they would not move significantly, they were positioned by telemetry every 3-7 days and recaptured every 3-14 days. Recaptured turtles were measured and examined to determine their condition. Results are presented and discussed related to turtle survival, movement, predation, behaviour, and habitat use.

This plan has been prepared to define recovery actions necessary to protect and recover the Nova Scotia population of Blanding's turtle. The introduction presents background on the conservation status of the species and the biology of Blanding's turtle in Nova Scotia. Section 2 discusses factors affecting the vulnerability of the species, the role of the turtle in the Nova Scotia Atlantic interior ecosystem, and the recovery potential of the species. Section 3 outlines the recovery plan, including goals & objectives, strategies, and a sequence of actions. Additional information is provided for each step of the plan: determination of habitat requirements and availability, implementation of habitat protection, clarifying understanding of the turtle's life history, stabilizing population age structure through increased recruitment, investigating population genetics, and providing data storage and access. The final section contains a plan implementation schedule.

Climate change, Atlantic parks, great lakes, prairie parks, Western conrdillera parks, pacific parks, arctic parks, ecodistrict, climat normals, temperature, precipitation, cross cutting, vegetation formations, water level.

Ecologists and environmental managers rely on mathematical models, both to understand ecological systems and to predict future system behavior. In turn, models rely on appropriate estimates of their parameters. This book brings together a diverse and scattered literature, to provide clear guidance on how to estimate parameters for models of animal populations. It is not a recipe book of statistical procedures. Instead, it concentrates on how to select the best approach to parameter estimation for a particular problem, and how to ensure that the quality estimated is the appropriate one for the specific purpose of the modelling exercise. Commencing with a toolbox of useful generic approaches to parameter estimation, the book deals with methods for estimating parameters for single populations. These parameters include population size, birth and death rates, and the population growth rate. For such parameters, rigorous statistical theory has been developed, and software is readily available. The problem is to select the optimal sampling design and method of analysis. The second part of the book deals with parameters that describe spatial dynamics, and ecological interactions such as competition, predation and parasitism. Here the principle problems are designing appropriate experiments and ensuring that the quantities measured by the experiments are relevant to the ecological models in which they will be used. This book will be essential reading for ecological researchers, postgraduate students and environmental managers who need to address an ecological problem through a population model. It is accessible to anyone with an understanding of basic statistical methods and population ecology. Unique in concentrating on parameter estimation within modelling. Fills a glaring gap in the literature. Not too technical, so suitable for the statistically inept. Methods explained in algebra, but also in worked examples using commonly available computer packages (SAS, GLIM, and some more specialised packages where relvant). Some spreadsheet based examples also included.