Welcome to the interactive web schedule for the 2019 Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference! Please note, this event has passed. To return to the main Conference website, go to: www.midwestfw.org.
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CONFERENCE SCHEDULE UPDATES & CHANGES: As a result of the prolonged government shutdown, we experienced a number of cancellations and changes to the schedule. Cancellations and changes are listed here (as of January 26, 2019).
AUTHORS: Callie Klatt Golba, Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University; Gary Glowacki, 2Natural Resource Division, Lake County Forest Preserve District; Richard B. King, Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University & Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability, and Energy, Northern Illinois University
ABSTRACT: Blanding’s Turtles (IUCN Endangered) are long-lived reptiles with delayed sexual maturity. Population viability analyses (PVAs) are useful tools for such species because they allow the comparison of conservation strategies over time frames that would not be possible experimentally. Accurate demographic parameter estimates are essential for reliable projection of effects of management on populations. For Blanding’s Turtles, we lack accurate estimates of juvenile survival because younger age classes are infrequently encountered and recaptured. The Lake County Forest Preserve District (LCFPD) in northeastern Illinois initiated a long-term capture-mark-recapture (CMR) project in 2004. Since 2010, LCFPD has released 879 headstarted turtles, 316 of which have been recaptured in one or more successive years. These 14 years of intensive monitoring have provided us with a unique dataset from which we estimate the survival of juvenile turtles. Using encounter histories of headstarted animals, we estimate age-specific survival rates by employing Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) modelling techniques. Furthermore, by comparing size and growth trajectories of headstarted animals with those of known-age wild-born juveniles (93 unique individuals, 39 of which have been recaptured), we meaningfully apply age-specific survival estimates to wild animals. Together with other demographic information from this population (adult survival, fecundity), we anticipate more accurate population projections that will aid in evaluating conservation strategies for this population and potentially for Blanding’s Turtles elsewhere.