Demographic Consequences of Superabundance in Krefft's River
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
i The comparative ecology of Krefft’s River Turtle Emydura krefftii in Tropical North Queensland. By Dane F. Trembath B.Sc. (Zoology) Applied Ecology Research Group University of Canberra ACT, 2601 Australia A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Applied Science (Resource Management). August 2005. ii Abstract An ecological study was undertaken on four populations of Krefft’s River Turtle Emydura krefftii inhabiting the Townsville Area of Tropical North Queensland. Two sites were located in the Ross River, which runs through the urban areas of Townsville, and two sites were in rural areas at Alligator Creek and Stuart Creek (known as the Townsville Creeks). Earlier studies of the populations in Ross River had determined that the turtles existed at an exceptionally high density, that is, they were superabundant, and so the Townsville Creek sites were chosen as low abundance sites for comparison. The first aim of this study was to determine if there had been any demographic consequences caused by the abundance of turtle populations of the Ross River. Secondly, the project aimed to determine if the impoundments in the Ross River had affected the freshwater turtle fauna. Specifically this study aimed to determine if there were any difference between the growth, size at maturity, sexual dimorphism, size distribution, and diet of Emydura krefftii inhabiting two very different populations. A mark-recapture program estimated the turtle population sizes at between 490 and 5350 turtles per hectare. Most populations exhibited a predominant female sex-bias over the sampling period. Growth rates were rapid in juveniles but slowed once sexual maturity was attained; in males, growth basically stopped at maturity, but in females, growth continued post-maturity, although at a slower rate. Sexual maturity was at 6-7 years of age for males, which corresponded to a carapace length of 150-160 mm, and 8-10 years of age for females, which corresponded to a carapace length of 185-240 mm. The turtles were omnivorous, although in the Ross River they ate more submerged vegetation (by percent amount and occurrence) than those of the Townsville Creeks. Turtles in Townsville Creeks ingested more windfall fruit and terrestrial insects. v Acknowledgments I would personally like to thank my three supervisors Prof. Arthur Georges, Dr. Nancy Fitzsimmons, and Dr. Di Barton for making this project work and for their help in obtaining permits and resources, which were needed for this study. I would especially like to thank Dr. Di Barton for helping me realise I could do this kind of research from when I was an undergraduate and for obtaining permits for the original work on Emydura krefftii. Also thanks to my friends Dr. Sean Doody, Dr. Jason Elliott and David Freier for much help with ideas and statistical analysis. I am also thankful to Dr. David Blair for providing me with resources from James Cook University and also for providing keys to the James Cook University Rowing Shed. Also to Steve Patane for drawing turtle shells for me. Thanks also to Dr. Chris Johnson for providing me with a copy of EcoMeth. Also much thanks to Enzo Guarino for providing me with new turtle traps. Additional thanks to Dr Scott Snyder and his wife Maggi for giving me all their turtles to dissect once they were done with them. Much thanks also to my good friend Janet Perry for helping me with the x/ray machine even though we never used it. Thanks also To George Zug for emailing me some references. Thanks to all the volunteers as their help and enthusiasm in the field made the work more bearable: Sarah Bales, Andrea Bogle, Kim Clover, Eloise Crowley, John Dawson, Haley Dingfelder, Jennifer Donnellson, Simon Fearn, Samantha Hanstock, Arliah Hayward, Michael Heslop, Elizabeth Isaacson, Jarle Jorgenson, Ray Lloyd, Anna Lorenz, Chad Martin, Paul McCann, Melinda Mucci, Steve Patane, Reid Perlick, David Poppi, Jodi Rowely, Zubin Saleem, and Jason Schaffer. Additionally much thanks to the American volunteers who travelled across the world to show that greater turtle biodiversity leads to greater turtle capture: Chip Blackburn, York Morgan, Ed Smith, and Alex Stevenson. Lastly I would like to thank my Mum and Dad for encouraging me to fulfil my desire to learn more about turtle and by providing the resources to maintain a large turtle collection when I was younger. vi Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background………………………………………………………………………….…1 1.2 Superabundance………………………………………………………………………..5 1.3 Demographic Studies on Freshwater Turtles…………………………………………..8 1.4 Aims…………………….…………………...………………………………………..11 Chapter 2: Study Species, Study Area, and Methods ………………………………………..12 2.1 Study Species…………………..……………………………………………………..12 2.1.1 Emydura krefftii................................................................................................12 2.1.2 Elseya latisternum…………………………………………………………….13 2.1.3 Chelodina canni……………………………………………………................15 2.2 Study Area………………………………………………………………………………...17 2.2.1 The Townsville Area………………………………………………………….17 2.2.2 The Ross River………………………………………………………………..17 2.2.3 Alligator Creek…………………..……………….…………………………...19 2.2.4 Stuart Creek…………………………………………………………………...23 2.3 Capture, Handling and Measurement………………………………………................23 2.4 Population Parameters………………………………………………………………...31 2.5 Growth………………………………………………………………………………..35 2.6 Diet...………………………………………………………………………………….36 2.7 Sexual-Size Dimorphism……………………………………………………………..38 Chapter 3: Results………………………………………………………………….................39 3.1 Population Estimation for Emydura krefftii…………………………………………..39 3.2 Size Distribution/Sex Ration…………….…………………………………................42 3.3 Size at Sexual Maturity……………………………………………………………….47 3.4 Rates of Survival/Immigration………………………………………………..............50 3.5 Growth Rates………………………………………………………………………….53 3.5.1 Ross River…………………………………………………………………….53 3.5.2 Townsville Creeks…………………………………………………………….57 3.6 Diet…………………………………………………………………………................58 3.6.1 Ross River Emydura krefftii........................................................................58 3.6.2 Townsville Creeks Emydura krefftii………………………………………62 3.6.3 River/Creek Comparisons…………………………………………………….63 vii 3.7 Sexual Size Dimorphism……………………………………………………………...63 Chapter 4: Discussion………………………………………………………………...............67 4.1 Population estimation………………………………………………………................67 4.2 Population Structure…………………………………………………………………..70 4.3 Growth Rates/Age at Maturity………………………………………………………..74 4.4 Size At Maturity……………………………………………………………................76 4.5 Rates of Survival and Immigration……………………………………...…................78 4.6 Dietary parameters……………………………………………………...…………….80 4.7 Sexual Size Dimorphism……………………………………………………………...83 Chapter 5: Synopsis…………………………………………………………………………..87 5.1 Demographic affects of Superabundance…………..………………………...............87 5.2 Freshwater Turtle Conservation in North Queensland………………..……...............89 5.3 Further Research……………………………………………………………………...91 References……..……………………………………………………………………………...92 Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………….110 viii List of Figures Figure 2.1. Male Emydura krefftii from Alligator Creek, Townsville……..………….……...14 Figure 2.2. Female Elseya latisternum from Alligator Creek, Townsville…………………...16 Figure 2.3. Female Chelodina canni from Ross River, Townsville………………………….16 Figure 2.4. Mean Monthly rainfall and maximum/minimum air temperatures for the Townsville Area………………………………………………………………...18 Figure 2.5. Map of the Ross River throughout the suburbs of Riverside Gardens and Annandale………………………………………………………………………20 Figure 2.6. Turtle Bridge Site, Palmetum Botanical Gardens, Townsville…………………..21 Figure 2.7. Riverside Gardens, Ross River, Townsville……………………………………..21 Figure 2.8. Map showing location of Alligator Creek Sites…..…………….……………….22 Figure 2.9. Alligator Creek Picnic Area in the dry season and wet season…………...….….24 Figure 2.10. Alligator Creek, Bruce Highway Townsville……………………….…………..25 Figure 2.11. Mean water depth of Alligator Creek (1972-2004) and Aplin’s Weir, Ross River (1944-1961)…………………………………………….……………………….26 Figure 2.12. Map of the Southern Townsville area showing location of Stuart Creek Study Sites…………………………………………………………..…………………27 Figure 2.13. Magnetic Island Caravan Park, Stuart Creek, Townsville…………..…………..28 Figure 2.14. Morphometric variables measured in Emydura krefftii from Townsville, Queensland……………………………………………………….….………….30 Figure 2.15. Linear regressions of curved carapace length (mm) versus straight carapace length of male and female Emydura krefftii from Ross River, Alligator Creek, and Stuart Creek……………………………….………………………………..32 Figure 2.16. Sexual dimorphism in tails of Emydura krefftii from Ross River, Townsville...33 Figure 2.17. Diagram of the notching method (Cagle, 1939) used in this study…………….34 Figure 3.1. Size Distribution of Emydura krefftii from Riverside Gardens Ross River and Palmetum, Ross River………………………………………….……………….44 Figure 3.2. Size distribution of Emydura krefftii from Alligator Creek and Stuart Creek…………………………………………………………………………....45 Figure 3.3. Age distribution of Emydura krefftii from Riverside Gardens Ross River and Palmetum, Ross River………………………………………………………..…46 Figure 3.4. Age distribution of Emydura krefftii from Alligator Creek and Stuart Creek…………………………………………………………………………....48 Figure 3.5. Carapace length plotted against tail length of both sexes of Emydura krefftii from all sites…………………………..……………………………………………....52 ix List of