Norm Green 1, Peter Kydd 2, Jeffie McNeil 3, Tom Herman 2

Freshwater turtles are particularly vulnerable to disturbance and mortality (e.g., road mortality, increased predation, collection) when undertaking seasonal movements. In many species, travel routes are well defined and used repeatedly by individuals or groups. In Nova Scotia, Blanding’s turtles are long lived, mature at a late age and are restricted in distribution to the southwestern interior of the province. They show strong site affinities and make regular seasonal movements to and from nesting sites, overwintering sites, and feeding areas. However, since the precise timing of movement is unpredictable, and since turtles can move long distances surprisingly quickly, accurate identification of travel routes has proven challenging. Locating nest sites, which are often far from water and well concealed, can be equally challenging. Conventional radio tracking, if manual, is labour intensive and potentially disruptive of turtle movement, or if automated, is costly and inaccurate; as a result most travel routes remain unknown. Most existing GPS tracking devices rely on transmission to and from satellites and are both costly and too heavy for small turtles. We are developing and piloting a small, custom-built GPS logger that stores data on a flash memory card contained in the unit. Data are retrieved from the units following subsequent re-capture, facilitated by a small radio transmitter in the unit. We are testing an array of sampling intervals and durations to balance battery life against amount of data collected. If successful, this technology will provide a cost-effective means of documenting travel routes and locating new nesting areas.
Poster Session

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