9Th Annual Symposium
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9th Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles Joint Annual Meeting of the Turtle Survival Alliance and IUCN Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group Program and Abstracts August 14 — 17, 2011 Orlando, Florida This year’s Annual Symposium made possible with the generosity of our sponsors: Additional support generously provided by: Aquarium Innovations, Brett and Nancy Stearns, Central Florida Zoo, Chelonian Research Foundation, David Shapiro, Desert Tortoise Council, Harris Rosen Foundation, John Iverson, Mazuri, Mike English, Reptiles Magazine, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, Scott Hendrickson and Kate Evans, Terrapin Beer, and the Animal Programs Nutrition Team and Department of Animal Programs from Disney’s Animal Kingdom TSA Projects Turtle Survival Alliance Belize: A sponsored workshop led to development of Hicatee 2011 Conference Highlights Conservation Monitoring Network in Belize, and ponds were installed for the Hicatee South American Turtles: Conservation Research Center at BFREE. Reports from Brazil and Colombia Join us on Monday as we kick off the Conference proceedings with presentations on turtle species from both countries. Reports indicate that many turtle species are in serious decline and Top left to bottom right: Six-tubercled River Turtle (Podocnemis sextuberculata); Matamata (Chelus need urgent attention. fimbriatus); Red-headed Amazon River Turtle (Podocnemis erythrocephala); Big-headed Amazon Sideneck (Peltocephalus dumerilianus) Myanmar: TSA completed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ $60,000 in new construction projects for expansion of Special Session by Whit Gibbons: captive assurance colonies of Mysteries to Discoveries: The Never critically endangered endemic species. Hired full time turtle Ending Story of Turtle Biology conservation coordinator. Monday, August 15, 8:45 am ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Can Turtles Talk? by Dick Vogt: Vocal Communication in Turtles: New Directions for Behavioral Research Monday, August 15, 11:00 am Madagascar: TSA developed partnerships with two local communities to protect key populations of Radiated Tortoises. Hired full time turtle Table of Contents conservation coordinator. Conference Highlights .................................................................................................. 1 Welcome Message from the Program Co-Chairs .......................................................... 2 Welcome Message from the Turtle Survival Alliance Board of Directors.................... 3 Conference Notes .......................................................................................................... 4 Note to Presenters ......................................................................................................... 4 How to Cite this Work .................................................................................................. 4 Social Activities and Timelines ..................................................................................... 4 Hotel Conference Map .................................................................................................. 6 To learn more about these and other TSA projects, visit our website Daily Program Schedules .............................................................................................. 7 www.turtlesurvival.org. Poster Presentations ...................................................................................................... 12 Program Abstracts ......................................................................................................... 13 Subject Index ................................................................................................................. 57 2011 From the Program Co-Chairs:WELCOME! It is both an honor and a privilege to welcome each of you to the 9th Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles, the Joint Annual meeting of the Turtle Survival Alliance and the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. It will be great to see so many familiar faces and we look forward to meeting so many new members. Last year’s conference was such a huge success, we decided to return to Orlando, and this year’s conference is yet another great value that includes a lineup of amazing speakers, an Icebreaker Social, a barbeque hosted by Central Florida Zoo, and the Awards Banquet. After last year’s conference, some of us went off to explore the springs surrounding Orlando and we had such an awesome time, we decided to offer organized field trips before and after the conference. We hope this becomes a tradition and a fun part of the conference for colleagues to meet outside of the conference venue. We would like to thank Eric Munscher and his colleagues with the Central Florida Freshwater Turtle Study for collaborating with the TSA and organizing the field trips this year. We are pleased to see that registration for this year’s conference is up, especially in light of current economic conditions and decreases in available travel funds experienced by many in our group. While our own dedicated and growing membership is not immune to the global economy, it seems many of you have recognized that this conference is too important to miss the opportunity to share ideas, communicate new findings, and talk “turtles.” Outside of this annual meeting, the TSA has been very active since last year’s conference as we have been involved in many workshops and meetings around the globe. These include the Indian Freshwater Turtle and Tortoise Conservation Priorities Areas and Initiatives; Training Workshops for Hicatee monitoring in Belize; Conservation of Asian Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles (Singapore); the Asian Box Turtle (Cuora spp.) Workshop (China); a Chelonian Vet Workshop (India); and the Conservation of Colombian Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises. An impressive list of co-hosted meetings showing just how globally integrated the TSA has become in its mission to ensure zero turtle extinctions. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that this conference would not be possible without the generous contributions made by donors and specifically our conference sponsors. We leave the formal acknowledgments to Rick and Anders’ welcome letter below, but we encourage you to visit our vendor and sponsor tables to say hello to these sponsors and to support them with a purchase of their products. A conference like this one is only as good as its volunteers and those that support the Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles are no exception. As conference organizers, we would like to extend our great appreciation to all of the session chairs who have done an wonderful job of lining up speakers this year. Conference Committee co-chairs Lonnie McCaskill (Disney’s Animal Kingdom) and Scott Davis (TSA Executive Director) have once again done an incredible job of negotiating with the Rosen Plaza to ensure that we offer one of the most affordable venues in the Chelonian community. We would also like to thank Heather Lowe who kept us all organized and somehow efficiently managed the myriad of details, emails, and questions that came her way. We thank Rose Tremblay, Nancy Reinert and Wendy Crofut, better known as the “Ladies,” who come each year to run the merchandise tables and hospitality suite, fill the ZooMed gift bags, take in auction items, and help to make the conference run smoothly. In addition, our many thanks go to Andrea Currylow for serving as Poster Co-chair this year. If you are interested in volunteering at next year’s conference, please let us know. We are always looking for session chairs, student paper and poster judges, Program editors, and additional hands to help behind the scenes. We also welcome your comments and suggestions on ways we can make this conference more meaningful and enjoyable. Please note this year we are having an official Poster Session at 5:30 pm on Monday evening where you can meet the poster presenters, ask questions, catch up with old friends and meet new ones. We look forward to visiting with all of you. Once again, welcome! We hope you the conference! Andrew Walde Program Chair 9th Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles | Orlando, Florida 2 2011 WELCOME! On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), and the leadership of the IUCN Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (TFTSG), we welcome you to the 9th Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles. Last year’s venue in Orlando, the Rosen Plaza Hotel, turned out to be an incredible value and the 2010 conference was a breakout year in attendance. Given that success, we are passing those savings on to you again in 2011 and judging from pre-registation numbers, we are on track to match last year’s attendance. This year we are pleased to present a special full-day symposium on South American turtles, and we are very fortunate to have been able to attract some of the best and brightest minds in turtle research and conservation from that important region. Our speakers represent Colombia and Brazil, countries rich in turtle diversity that rank fourth and sixth on a global scale. In particular, we owe debts of gratitude to our esteemed colleagues Vivian Paez for organizing this impressive program, and Dick Vogt for bringing such a large contingent of his student research group to participate.