turtle and habitat response to wetland and upland restoration
TRANSCRIPT
Two Decade Study of Blanding’s
Turtle and Habitat Response to
Wetland and Upland Restoration
Erik Kiviat
Presentation © 2019 Erik Kiviat Hudsonia
Analyses in progress
An isolated, genetically distinct
population in Dutchess Co., NY
associated with gravelly
glacial outwash soils
Blanding’s Turtle Habitat in Dutchess CountyCore Wetland Habitat:
Deep-flooding shrub swamps with organic
soil, near gravelly glacial outwash
Associated Wetland Habitats:
Vernal (woodland) pools, flooded swamps,
beaver ponds, other flooded wetlands
Drought Refuge:
Spring-fed natural or artificial ponds, or
deep pools in wetlands
Estivation Habitat:
Wetland sediments; upland woods under
logs or in shrub thickets; stream pools
Juvenile Wetland Habitat:
Shallow-flooding, densely-vegetated
wetlands ?
Connecting Corridors
Buttonbush
Kiviat 1997
Core Habitats
Shrubby wetland pools
Kiviat 1997
% turtle locations Water level
May_
96
Jun_96
Jul_
96
Aug_96
Sep_96
Oct
_96
May_
97
Jun_97
Jul_
97
Aug_97
Sep_97
Oct
_97
May_
98
Jun_98
Jul_
98
Aug_98
Sep_98
Oct
_98
May_
99
Jun_99
Jul_
99
Aug_99
Sep_99
Oct
_99
Reference Wetland CS
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
Tu
rtle
lo
ca
tio
ns
(%
)
Wa
ter
lev
el
(cm
)
% turtle locationsWater level
Ma
y_96
Jun
_96
Jul_
96
Au
g_96
Se
p_96
Oct_
96
Ma
y_97
Jun
_97
Jul_
97
Au
g_97
Se
p_97
Oct_
97
Ma
y_98
Jun
_98
Jul_
98
Au
g_98
Se
p_98
Oct_
98
Ma
y_99
Jun
_99
Jul_
99
Au
g_99
Se
p_99
Oct_
99
Constructed wetland B
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
Tu
rtle
lo
ca
tio
ns
(%
)
Wa
ter
lev
el
(cm
)
Adults move among wetlands
to track water levels
Donor wetland (sod source) Before construction
Habitat Creation Project
Few wetlands have been created or restored
specifically for rare animal species
Pre-existing (Reference) wetlands in white
white
CS
SES
NCP
D
Mitigation for wetland loss due to school expansion
Nesting
Wetland
One-way barrier
D
Kiviat et al. 2000, 2004
Donor wetland
Moving wetland sods:
1.2 x 2.4 m x 38 cm
Concept for sod technique: Munro Ecological Services
Spatula for cutting sods Harvested sod
Loading sods on truck
Placing sods in basin Sods and organic soil
Created wetland after one summer
Society for Ecological Restoration Award, 1997
Multivariate analysis of vegetation shows little temporal change
(however, tree cover increased in C wetlands)
Her
bac
eous
W
oody
Drier Wetter
Plant species richness
after wetland creation
Sediment depth has not changed
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
1997 1998 1999 1997 1998 1999 1997 1998 1999 1997 1998 1999
So
il r
esp
ira
tio
n (
mg
C k
g-1
d-1
)
Buttonbush Moat Sediments Sods
Reference Constructed
Soil respiration increased during first 3 yr in C wetlands
Unpubl. data, P. Groffman, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Nu
mb
er o
f ob
serv
atio
ns
58%
17%26%
CS N
CP
SE
S
A1
A2
B
1996
0100200300400500600700800
62%
3%
26%
6% 3% 1%
CS N
CP
SE
S
A1
A2
B
1997
0100200300400500600700800
49%
1%
17%8% 7%
18%
CS N
CP
SE
S
A1
A2
B
1998
0100200300400500600700800
54%
8%22%
5% 6% 5%
CS N
CP
SE
S
A1
A2
B
1999
0100200300400500600700800
47%
3%17%
1% 4%
27%
CS N
CP
SE
S
A1
A2
B2000
0100200300400500600700800
44%
19%14%
4% 5%13%
CS N
CP
SE
S
A1
A2
B
2001
0100200300400500600700800
55%
10% 12%
1%8%
15%
CS N
CP
SE
S
A1
A2
B
2002
0100200300400500600700800
46%
11%17%
1%6%
20%
CS N
CP
SE
S
A1
A2
B
2003
0100200300400500600700800
54%
10%17%
2%8% 9%
CS N
CP
SE
S
A1
A2
B
2004
0100200300400500600700800
Proportions of telemetry locations in R vs. C wetlands, May-SepCS, NCP, SES = Reference wetlands (left), A1, A2, B = Constructed wetlands (right)
Constructed wetlands collectively 10-33% of telemetry locations
Turtles were found in warmer water in constructed wetlands than in natural wetlands
Na
tura
l we
tlan
ds
Co
nstru
cte
d w
etla
nd
s
80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320
Julian Date 2002
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
26
28
30
32
Wa
ter
Te
mp
era
ture
, D
eg
ree
s C
els
ius
Hartwig & Kiviat 2007
Females select nest sites by vegetation cover
Bock 2007 master’s thesis
Soil at Blanding's Turtle Nest Sites, Dutchess County, NY
-2.5 -2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
May Precipitation, departure from normal
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
% G
rav
el b
y w
eig
ht
-2.5 -2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
May Precipitation, departure from normal
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
% S
an
d b
y w
eig
ht
Females select nest sites
by soil texture
Overgrown
Nesting habitat is simple to create,
must be managed to avoid overgrowth
by dense tall vegetation
Suitable
Females selected nest
sites on tilled plots in
preference to mowed
or hand-weeded plots
Dowling et al. 2010
Hatchling Productivity
Number of live hatchlings/total eggs
Constructed wetlands provide late spring and
summer habitat for adult Blanding’s turtles
Habitat replacement is expensive and risky: wetland
development is slow and some functions may not be
successfully created
Wetland creation can supplement habitat in special
situations
Constructed habitats need perpetual maintenance
Constructed wetland
Acknowledgments
Melissa Fadden * Jennifer Gillen * Elise Heffernan * Gretchen Stevens
Peter Groffman * Vanessa Kichline * Gautam Sethi
Rob Brauman * Heidi Bock * Tanessa Hartwig * John Sullivan *
Krista Munger * Maribel Pregnall & Family * Zara Dowling *
Volunteers * Interns
* Arlington Central School District, consultants and contractors *
Sven Hoeger/Creative Habitat * Garrett Hollands/ENSR
James Baird State Park and NYSOPRHP *
NYSDEC
Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation * Guinness Water of Life
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Society for Ecological Restoration * AmeriCorps
Marilyn Milton Simpson Charitable Trusts * Individual Donors *
Philip and Amanda Duff Dunne Fund at Hudsonia
Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust * Horne Family Foundation *
The Wetland Trust