Abstract
A comparison was done of three relocation techniques to mitigate the impacts of construction of a major highway on eastern box turtles (Terrapene c. carolina) in Maryland. Movement patterns, home range size, and the survival of turtles from three treatment groups between 2008 to 2011 were compared: turtles native to the study site and not moved during the study (native turtles), turtles native to the site but that were removed from the limit of disturbance (LOD) of the highway and relocated within 500 m of their original location (on-site relocations), and turtles that came from areas at least 5 km from the study area and that were relocated within 250 m of the LOD (off-site turtles). Turtles in the off-site group had larger home ranges and moved longer distances than either on-site or native turtles. However, off-site–relocated turtles did not make permanent movements off the study area nor have difficulty finding suitable sites for overwintering. No statistically significant differences in survival were found in the three treatment groups. However, overall survival rates were <65% over the study's 3 years, considerably lower than rates seen in other box turtle populations, perhaps because of an emerging pathogen, Ranavirus, causing numerous deaths of box turtles. Recommendations for best practices emphasized the need for more effective wildlife exclusion fences to be built and maintained earlier in construction. Failure to create and maintain such a barrier led to numerous trespass events, where turtles moved onto the LOD and would likely have been killed without researchers’ intervention.
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