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Novel Insights in the Biology and Conservation of Freshwater Turtles

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Dear Colleagues,

Freshwater turtles are among the most ancient vertebrates on Earth. As for other chelonians, their body plan persisted with little change for more than 200 million years and their distribution spans across rivers of all continents, from equatorial up to temperate biomes. Nearly one third of all chelonians (353 spp.) is represented by taxa with a distinct adaptation to freshwater habitats. Hunting for turtle egg and meat, accompanied by the poor status of the world’s rivers and wetlands, habitat destruction, and climate change, imply that freshwater turtles are the most threatened vertebrates on Earth; a majority is classified as threatened, and a significant but poorly assessed number of species, starting from Asiatic taxa, are at the brink of extinction.

Recent decades have witnessed significant advancements in the understanding of turtle distribution, ecology and conservation status. Yet wide gaps persist. Next to this, recent advancements have enhanced our knowledge on fascinating aspects of the physiology of these weird organisms, including their ontogeny, breathing, reproduction and senescence (or rather lack thereof).

The present Special Series is inviting contributions on all aspects of turtle biology, ecology and conservation in the attempt to provide an overview of recent advancements and indicate future research prospects.

Dr. Nic Pacini
Prof. Dr. Luca Luiselli
Guest Editors

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Keywords

turtle biology, turtle ecology and distribution
turtle conservation
turtle physiology and senescence
turtle breathing
turtle reproduction
threatened turtle species
turtle conservation status

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10 pages, 1953 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Trophic Resource Use by Sympatric vs. Allopatric Pelomedusid Turtles in West African Forest Waterbodies

by Fabio Petrozzi, Sery Gonedele Bi, Gabriel Hoinsoudé Segniagbeto, Nic Pacini, Julia E. Fa and Luca Luiselli

Biology 2023, 12(8), 1054; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12081054 - 27 Jul 2023

Viewed by 817

Abstract

Organisms that are similar in size, morphological characteristics, and adaptations, including vertebrates, often coexist by partitioning the available resources (food, space, and time). So, studies of the dynamics of these cases of coexistence are scientifically interesting. Here, we study a coexistence case of two species of freshwater turtles inhabiting the forest waterbodies of West Africa, focusing on the dietary habits of the two species. We found that both turtle species are omnivorous generalists, eating both vegetal and animal matter abundantly. However, there were clear interspecific differences, with the larger of the two species (P. cupulatta) eating more vertebrates (mainly fish but occasionally other vertebrates), whereas P. castaneus consumed more invertebrates. These patterns appeared consistently within the species and across sites, highlighting that the same patterns were likely in other conspecific populations from the Upper Guinean forest streams (Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia). Our study also showed that interspecific competition for food does not occur between these two species; instead, previous studies uncovered that a clear partitioning of the habitat niche occurs. We conclude that the food resource is likely unlimited in the study areas, as it is not the case in more arid environments (since food shortages may occur during the dry season). We anticipate that, within the Pelomedusidae communities throughout Africa, intense competition for food probably occurs in the Sahel and Sudanian vegetation zones, particularly during the dry months, but is unlikely within the Guinea and wet savannah region and even less likely in the Guineo-Congolian rainforest region. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Insights in the Biology and Conservation of Freshwater Turtles)

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19 pages, 2601 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Somatic Growth and Maturity for Four Species of River Cooter Including Pseudemys concinna suwanniensis, P. nelsoni, P. peninsularis, and P. texana

by Zachary A. Siders, Theresa A. Stratmann, Calandra N. Turner Tomaszewicz, Andrew D. Walde and Eric C. Munscher

Biology 2023, 12(7), 965; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12070965 - 06 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1129

Abstract

Pseudemys is a genus of commonly occurring freshwater turtles with limited growth information across their long lifespans. We used 11,361 mark-recapture events to estimate the somatic growth rates of P. nelsoni, P. peninsularis, P. concinna suwanniensis, and P. texana from freshwater springs and developed a Bayesian growth model to estimate the species-specific, site-specific, and individual effects on growth. We corroborated evidence for fast juvenile growth and slower adult growth in Pseudemys but found uncommonly fast growth rates, with turtles doubling or tripling in size in the first year. P. texana males had the smallest average maximum size (

L_{\infty}

, 243 mm), while P. c. suwanniensis females had the largest (423 mm). Environmental conditions at springs had significant effects on

k

, the growth coefficient, but not

L_{\infty}

. We derived, using a ratio of length at maturity to

L_{\infty}

(71.7% and 87%, males and females), that females matured 1.15–1.57 times older than males except for P. c. suwanniensis, which matured three times older. Given the local abundance declines in many Pseudemys from anthropogenic impacts, this study provides important baseline life history information for Pseudemys species for use in ongoing conservation efforts and presents a novel hierarchical modeling approach using a long-term mark-recapture dataset. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Insights in the Biology and Conservation of Freshwater Turtles)

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