A Study of Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta) in

Lake Marburg at Codorus State Park Olivia Yaple, Department of Biology, York College

Introduction Methods Results Conclusions

Future Studies

Acknowledgements

Literature Cited

Table 2. The number of painted males and females captured and then recaptured at the same or different location from 2009-2012.

Baited traps were placed in Dubs, Chapel, and Sailboat Coves for several days every month from April to October of 2012

Traps were checked every 24 hours while in the water

Captured turtles were collected, marked by filing scutes,and released back into the water

Four of the captured The number of captured and turtles were equipped recaptured turtles were with a Wildlife Materials used to determine the transmitter at a frequency population using the Schnabelof 172 MHz to determine Method (Schnabel, 1938)their movements and follow their location

Schnabel Method:

Turtles were tracked oncea week using a Field Marshall 1000 until the transmitters were believed to have fallen off mid- summer. This was known = total number of turtles when signals were in the capturedsame location for more = number of marked turtlesthan two weeks = numbers of recaptures

• Place baited traps in new locations throughout the lake for a better population estimate• Determine why there is an uneven sex ratio ofmale to female turtles• Try to track turtles throughout an entire active season to determine if painted turtles have a homerange

•Bowen, K., Janzen, F. 2008. Human recreation and nesting ecology of a freshwater turtle (Chrysemys picta). ChelonianConservation and Biology. 7:95-100. •Ernst C. and Lovich, J. 2009. Turtles of the united states and canada 2nd Edition. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland•Rowe, J. 2003. Activity and movements of midland paintedturtles (Chrysemys picta marginata) living in a small marsh system on beaver island, michigan. Journal of Herpetology.37:342-353.• Schnabel, Z. 1938. The estimation of the total fish populationof a lake. American Mathemetician Monthly. 45:348-352.

I would like to thank Dr. Jessica Nolan for her continued supportthroughout this study and to the Pennsylvania Fish and BoatCommission and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservationand Natural Resources for allowing research within the park

Figure 1. Movements of the four turtles equipped with transmitters through the course of the study.

Painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) are semi-aquatic animals; they can be found anywhere throughout the United States and utilize areas that contain large amounts of vegetation and resources (Ernst et. al, 2009). A population of painted turtles can be found within Lake Marburg, part of Codorus State Park in Hanover, PA Painted turtle movements and population sizewithin Lake Marburg are unknown. Painted turtles tend to stay within a core area thatmay become a home range, whichIs the area in which an animal lives and travels. Little research has been done on home range size for painted turtle’s. However an estimated home range size of .012 was found from a study in Michigan (Rowe, 2003) Scientists are interested in knowing the home range and population size of painted turtles because their habitat may be affected by an increase in human recreation, possibly altering their behavior and affecting where they may move (Bowen and Janzen, 2008)

By knowing the population and home range size of painted turtles, scientists can maintain the current population and the areas they inhabit within Lake Marburg

Objectives

Objective 1: Determine the painted turtle movements throughout Lake Marburg H: Painted turtles, given their size will havea small home range, specific to a cove

Objective 2: Determine the painted turtle population size in Lake Marburg

• Majority of painted turtles were captured in their original location with only 3 males and 2 females captured indifferent locations over 4 years

• Turtles were captured into October, showing that even thoughthe tags fell off mid-summer, turtles may have continued to movethroughout the season

  Population Estimate

95% Confidence Interval

PaintedRed-Eared SlidersRed-Bellied Turtles

175 146 34

148-214 61-426 10-189

• The painted turtle population estimate is similar to previousestimates for other turtle species within the lake

Table 1. Comparison of turtle population size found within Lake Marburgincluding red-eared sliders and red-bellied turtles provided by Dr. Nolan.

• Two females and one male stayed within the area of a cove, shown by the brown, red, and blue polygons; however one male, shown by the purple stars, moved to other coves within the lake

• 3 of the 4 tagged turtles in this study showed little movement, as hypothesized; however the 1 tagged male from this study plus 3 males and 2 females that were marked have been recaptured in different locations

  Number Captured

Number Recaptured

Recaptured at Different Location

Male Female

95 

43

40 

10

3 2

Males tend to move because they are looking for a mate (Ernst et. al, 2009) Females tend to move to find a suitable nesting site making more land-based movements (Ernst et. al, 2009)

• Home range was not calculated as the transmitters only stayed on for half of the paintedturtles’ active season• Since only a small portion of the lake was sampled and painted turtles tended to stay in asingle cove, the population estimate of painted turtles may not accurately represent the total number of painted turtles that may be found throughout Lake Marburg

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