Characteristics of a Historically Harvested Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) Population

Following perturbations like commercial harvests, turtles are susceptible to population declines because of life history characteristics such as long generation times, low recruitment rates, delayed maturity, and slow growth rates. Prior to gaining state-wide protection in 1993, the Alligator Snappi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Copeia 2013-03, Vol.2013 (1), p.58-63
Main Authors: Howey, Christopher A. F, Dinkelacker, Stephen A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alligators
Conservation Biology
Creeks & streams
Demographics
Demography
Depopulation
Fish
Hypotheses
Males
Population
Population characteristics
Population density
Population studies
Ratios
Reptiles & amphibians
Sex ratio
Snapping turtles
Turtles
Young animals
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Summary:Following perturbations like commercial harvests, turtles are susceptible to population declines because of life history characteristics such as long generation times, low recruitment rates, delayed maturity, and slow growth rates. Prior to gaining state-wide protection in 1993, the Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) was commercially harvested in Arkansas. We conducted a mark–recapture study from 2005–2007 on a population of M. temminckii known to have been harvested in the East Fork Cadron Creek, a slow-moving stream in central Arkansas and part of the Mississippi River drainage. Captured turtles were marked, measured, weighed, and sexed. We compared observed characteristics to what would be expected if this population did not exhibit any evidence of past commercial harvest. We caught few large adults and approximately one adult for every juvenile. The adult sex ratio was highly female biased (6 F∶1 M). Population density (18 turtles/km stream reach) was slightly lower than expected. The apparent survivorship for males (0.96), females (0.88), and juveniles (0.80) appear to be as expected for a large freshwater turtle. Whereas high survivorship rates may ameliorate the effects of historical commercial harvest, slow growth rates, low reproductive success, and long generation times have assured these effects to be long lasting and still present within our study population. We also suggest that there are factors impeding recovery of this population, such as life history characteristics and incidental catch by fisherman.
ISSN:0045-8511
2766-1512
1938-5110
2766-1520
DOI:10.1643/CE-12-040