Home range of three turtle species in Central Yucatan. A comparative study

Abstract

Home range is a fundamental characteristic of an animal natural history. The study of home range provides information on the sites where organisms forage for food, find shelter, or locate mates. Home range size and shape can change throughout the lifespan of an organism, during the year, or across seasons, driven by resource availability and the basic needs for each organism. For freshwater and semi-aquatic turtles, home range is greatly affected by water availability, humidity, and temperature throughout the year, nevertheless demographic factors such age and sex are also important determinants of home range size. In this study we estimated home range and dispersal movements for Kinosternon creaseri, Terrapene yucatana, and Rhinoclemmys areolata in a semi-tropical dry forest in central Yucatán. For a two-year period, turtles were surveyed using hoop traps and visual encounters. Twenty-one individuals (5–8 per species) were equipped with radio transmitters to track them across the landscape. Distances between relocations and home range were compared across species seasons, sex, and interactions of these variables. Monthly average movements were positively correlated with rain in the three species studied. Home range of R. areolata was larger than those of K. creaseri and T. yucatana. Home range of the three studied species were larger during the wet season. Home range overlap index within same species individuals was higher during the rainy than dry season, but overall overlap is low between and within species. Comparative studies of home range in sympatric organisms can shed light on how organisms partition resources to co-exist, and identify the habitat needs for each species. We compared the home range and movement of three sympatric turtle species on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, a habitat characterized as semideciduous dry forest. Home range and movements differ among species and seasons. Turtles move larges distances and have larger home ranges during the rainy season, while their home range shrank during the dry season, when some species estivate, while others occupy permanent water bodies. Our results show that home range is related to season and water availability for the species studied, which used different of microhabitats, with Kinosternon creaseri used sartenejas and rock shelters, while Rhinoclemmys areolate used wooded debris and leaf litter microhabitats, finally, Terrapene yucatana was observed in rocky and woody debris microhabitats.