Population abundance, structure and movements of the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus 1758) based on capture-recapture data in a Venice Lagoon wetland area, Italy
- Autori: Liuzzo M.; Borella S.; Ottonello D.; Arizza V.; Malavasi S.
- Anno di pubblicazione: 2021
- Tipologia: Articolo in rivista
- Parole Chiave: density; Emys orbicularis; habitat; lagoon; movements
- OA Link: http://hdl.handle.net/10447/532350
Abstract
A freshwater turtle monitoring programme along the inland margins of the Venice lagoon was initiated in 2019 in collaboration with the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF-Italy). From a total of 336 European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) captured and marked, 97 freshwater turtles were recaptured at least once (28.9% return rate) providing important information on population size, structure and movements of mature individuals within the study area. The population size was estimated with capture-recapture method (Capture-Mark-Recapture-CMR) at 1009.4 ± 365.2 pond turtles, with a mean density of 252.3 ± 91.3 ind./ha. The analysis of the movements showed that the average distance covered intra-water bodies was: 146.79 ± 117.08 m for females and 125.43 ± 112.34 m for males. A total of 17 E. orbicularis (eight females and nine males) out of 97 turtles changed the water body during the study period from April to early September. Only a female freshwater turtle migrated in all three study sites, being recaptured 1502.32 m from the tagging site. The percentage of captures was significantly higher in two canals than in the brackish lake habitat. Further research should address spatial distribution at a finer scale to evaluate the preferential habitat for threatened E. orbicularis populations in a transitional water system as the lagoon.