Journal article
Factors influencing occurrence of a freshwater turtle in an urban landscape: A resilient species?
D Stokeld, AJ Hamer, R Van Der Ree, V Pettigrove, G Gillespie
Wildlife Research | CSIRO PUBLISHING | Published : 2014
DOI: 10.1071/WR13205
Abstract
Context Species vary broadly in their ability to adapt to urbanisation. Freshwater turtles are vulnerable to the loss and degradation of terrestrial and aquatic habitat in urban environments. There have been few publications investigating impacts of urbanisation on freshwater turtles in Australia. Aims We investigated the effects of urbanisation on the distribution and abundance of the eastern long-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis) in greater Melbourne. Methods We examined occurrence and relative abundance of C. longicollis at 55 wetlands across an urban-rural gradient in relation to site- and landscape-level factors. Occupancy was modelled using the program PRESENCE, and incorporated la..
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Funding Acknowledgements
Tim Jessop assisted with statistical analyses. Chhavi Bhandari and Stefano Canessa helped with ArcGIS. Katelyn Power assisted with fieldwork. This study was undertaken under Permit #10005308, issued by Department of Environment and Primary Industries, University of Melbourne Animal Ethics Committee #0811058.1, and Melbourne Water #850/101/0208-5. The Baker Foundation supported Andrew Hamer and Rodney van der Ree and, together with The School of Botany at The University of Melbourne, supported Danielle Stokeld. We thank the many land owners and managers who allowed us to survey turtles in their wetlands.