Hou, X.; Shi, H. Movement and Home Range of Amur Soft-Shell Turtle (Pelodiscus maackii) in the Ussuri River, Heilongjiang Province, China. Animals2024, 14, 1088.
Hou, X.; Shi, H. Movement and Home Range of Amur Soft-Shell Turtle (Pelodiscus maackii) in the Ussuri River, Heilongjiang Province, China. Animals 2024, 14, 1088.
Hou, X.; Shi, H. Movement and Home Range of Amur Soft-Shell Turtle (Pelodiscus maackii) in the Ussuri River, Heilongjiang Province, China. Animals2024, 14, 1088.
Hou, X.; Shi, H. Movement and Home Range of Amur Soft-Shell Turtle (Pelodiscus maackii) in the Ussuri River, Heilongjiang Province, China. Animals 2024, 14, 1088.
Abstract
Comprehensively understanding the spatial ecology and habitat preferences of endangered species is essential for population restoration and conservation. We investigated the home range and movement of the endangered Amur soft-shell turtle (Pelodiscus maackii) in the Ussuri River, Heilongjiang Province, Northeastern China. The study involved tracking 19 Amur soft-shell turtles from late June to mid-October, 2022, resulting in complete and partial home range size data for eight subadults and two adults, respectively. The primary analysis focused on eight subadults, and the models that best described daily movement were identified. We also explored the potential factors influencing home range size. Mean movement rate ranged from 39.18 ± 20.04 m to 72.45 ± 29.36 m and was positively correlated with the linear home range and water temperature. The most insightful home range estimate was a 95% kernel density estimate, employing likelihood cross-validation smoothing with constraints set to the river boundaries. The mean home range size was 1.02 ha and was not correlated with body size. Subadults tended to establish well-defined home ranges over time; whereas, defining home ranges for adults proved challenging. This research addresses a gap regarding the ecology of the Amur soft-shell turtle and provides a foundation for future conservation plans.
Keywords
Amur soft-shell turtle; Pelodiscus maackii; spatial ecology; movement rate; home range; conservation
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
