Current Situation of the Sonoyta Mud Turtle (Kinosternon Sonoriense
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Current situation of the Sonoyta Mud Turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale) population at Agua Dulce RAMSAR site in El Pinacate Biosphere Reserve, Sonora, Mexico July 2018 Reserva de la Biosfera El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Miguel A. Grageda García. Coordinator of Natural Resources Management. Héctor Diego García Miranda. Field Biologist ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This effort was funded through the P16AC01282/ASDM-41--Support conservation actions for Quitobaquito and Rio Sonoyta, which is a collaboration of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Pinacate Biosphere Reserve starting in March 2016. We want to thank to all the experts, volunteers and people involved in this project: Dr. Peter Holm, Dr. Tyler Coleman, Marie Long, Catherine Bartlett, Lourdes Ortiz, Sait Juanes Márquez. And a special acknowledgment to Raúl ‘Don Ruly’, owner of the Papalote Ranch and part of the Agua Dulce RAMSAR site for providing access to his land and supporting this project. 1 INTRODUCTION The Sonoyta mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale) is a subspecies endemic of the Sonoyta River in northwestern Sonora, Mexico and the Quitobaquito Springs in southern Arizona, United States. This subspecies was first described by Iverson in 1981 based on morphometric analysis of 19 shell measurements of specimens from Quitobaquito in Arizona and sites in the Rio Sonoyta basin in Sonora. Currently the Sonoyta mud turtle is classified as K.s. longifemorale (Iverson 1981), as one of two subspecies of Sonora mud turtle and is considered a valid taxon by the scientific community (Crother 2012) based on the morphometric analysis by Iverson (1981) and genetic work by Rosen (2003) and Rosen et al. (2006). Two genetic analyses support that this subspecies is a recognizable entity compared to the other currently recognized subspecies (K. s. sonoriense), although it is not strongly differentiated. The other subspecies, K. s. sonoriense, is commonly referred to as Sonora mud turtle. The currently accepted classification is: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum:Chordata Class:Reptilia Order: Testudines Family: Kinosternidae Subfamily: Kinonsterninae Tribe: Kinosternini Species: Kinosternon sonoriense Subspecies: longifemorale Other subspecies of the species Kinosternon sonoriense are found in the southwestern U.S. and Sonora. Although individuals from all populations have adaptations necessary for inhabiting environments that dry periodically, behavioral and physiological responses to water stress vary among populations (Peterson and Stone, 2000; Lignon and Peterson, 2002). Mud turtles movements vary with water availability at regional and local scales (Stone, 2001). The Sonoyta Mud Turtle is in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species considered as ‘Near Threatened’ since 2011 (Van Dijk, 2011) and by the Mexican law NOM-059-SEMARNAT- 2010 as Endemic and in ‘Danger of Extinction’ (SEMARNAT 2010) 2 STUDY SITE We studied Sonoyta Mud Turtles in the area known as Agua Dulce (Figure 1). It is a wetland designated as RAMSAR in February 2nd, 2018 (Ramsar, 2008; Ramsar, 2018). It is located within the Sonoyta River flow (31° 55’ 27’’ N, 113° 01’ 17’’ W), with a surface of 39 ha and an extension of 2 km. The Sonoyta river originates near the Pozo Verde mountain range in Sonora, Mexico. It flows to the west for 207 km, at this point it reaches the area known as Agua Dulce, and then keeps flowing south for 88 km until it reaches the Sea of Cortez. The streambed is formed by gravel, bedrock and sand. Vegetation bordering the river is dominated mainly by the invasive salt cedar (Tamarix ramosissima) with presence of mesquite (Prosopis velutina) and willow (Salix gooddingii). Some pools have seep-willow (Baccharis sarothroides) and spike rush (Carex spp.). Figure 1. The study site ‘Agua Dulce’ Ramsar site (in red) located in the Sonoyta river. 3 Usually the Sonoyta river flows once or twice a year during rainy season. It will have a strong current that usually lasts 3 or 4 days, then the flow decreases forming a narrow current that will keep water flowing for about a month (Figure 2); if rainy season is over the water level will keep decreasing forming pools that will endure for several months until most of them finally dry out, remaining just a few of them with enough water to keep aquatic species alive like the Sonoyta pupfish (Cyprinodon eremus), for the whole year until the next flow occurs. Also, there is a spring that provides water to the river during the whole year helping to keep a minimum level of water in some of the pools. Figure 2. A narrow current flowing in the Agua Dulce Ramsar site part of the Sonyta river. In the last 50 years the water level of the Sonoyta river has been decreasing dramatically due to groundwater depletion and loss of aquatic habitat (Rosen et al., 2010). Sonoyta is presumed to have had a cienega, and the Sonoyta River is thought to have originally had long-flowing reaches (Rosen et al., 2010). The reason for this decrease is mainly because of the overuse of ground water for agriculture in the Sonoyta Valley. Nowadays, the water level is so low in most part of the Agua Dulce Ramsar site that it only covers the body of an adult turtle partially which makes it easier to be detected by predators when they are active (Figure 3). 4 Figure 3. Sonoyta Mud turtle in the Agua Dulce Ramsar Site. Water level is usually low enough to see part of the carapace out of the surface when a turtle is active. METHODS Mark-recapture technique During each sampling session, we walked through the river looking for Sonoran turtles, usually hidden in ponds along the river. Once captured, turtles were caught by hand. We used the method based on the one proposed by Cagle (1939), giving a serial number to each individual represented by marks in the marginal scutes. Thus, the scales on the right represent units from 1 to 9 and the scales on the left represent tens from 10 to 90, skipping the sixth and seventh scute (Figure 4). We used a dial caliper to measure the straight carapace length (SCL), curve carapace length (CCL), straight carapace width (SCW), and plastron width (PW) (Figures 5 and 6). We used a spring scale to obtain the weight of each individual (Figure 7). Gender (male or female) was determined by presence or absence of physical sexual characteristics; if sex was not clearly recognizable due to age, we recorded the individual as juvenile. We mapped the location of each individual turtle using a GPS unit and any unusual fact regarding behavior or physical characteristic present on the specimen. Finally, individual photos were taken of each turtle from above and underneath, to keep an image catalog of the captured individuals (Figure 8); also, pattern of the plastron may be used as a supplemental method of identifying individuals (Cross, et al. 2014). 5 Figure 4. Marginal scutes marked. On the right side the second scale is marked representing a number 2 and on the left side the second scale is marked representing a 20, which means the turtle was assigned number 22. Figure 5. Biologist Diego García measuring the length of a carapace in a Sonoyta Mud Turtle 6 Figure 6. Recording data and taking measurements of capture turtles Figure 7. Turtles were weighed using a spring scale 7 Figure 8. Example of an individual photo of the individual #47 taken from underneath. Pattern of the plastron may be used as a supplemental method of identifying individuals. Radiotelemetry monitoring In order to obtain information about the movements of the turtles in the study site we used the radiotelemetry technique (Hall and Steidl, 2007). Thus, we attached a VHF transmitter unit to the posterior costal scutes of 5 turtles using epoxy in order to follow their movements in the Agua Dulce site (Figure 4). We randomly chose each one of the individuals, recorded the location and measurements of each. We used radiotransmitters model PD-2 with a weight of 4gr, manufactured by Holohil Systems Ltd. (HSL). The battery of each transmitter had a lifespan of 3 to 4 months. Thus, during this time we visited the site looking for turtles with radio transmitter after the ‘mark-recapture’ search to avoid affecting detection probability during this effort. We located each individual using a radio receiver (Figure 5 and 6), and then we recorded the time and location using a GPS unit. Turtles were not handled after they were radio-marked. 8 Figure 4. A VHF transmitter attached on one of the Sonoyta Mud Turtles Figure 5. Use of radio receptor to look for the Sonoyta Mud Turtles 9 Figure 6. Search of radio-marked turtles in the Agua Dulce site Results Estimation of population size During the capture effort between 2016 and 2018 we captured a total number of 111 individual turtles within the Agua Dulce Ramsar Site, with 25 recaptures, in a total effort of 13 days; 1 day in 2016, 6 days in 2017 and 6 days in 2018. We captured the highest number of turtles in 2017 (n= 87), while in 2018 we captured just half of the number (n= 44) with the same sampling effort (Figure 7). We had 51 males, 55 females with a sex ratio of 1:1; 2 unidentified individuals, 3 juveniles and 5 yearlings (Figure 8). Also, during this time we found one individual dead for unknown reasons. Captures were done mainly from January to June (Figure 9). We had the highest number of captures in March (n= 34) in an effort of 5 days, while the lowest number was in June (n= 1) with only 1 day of effort. In November of 2017 we had the highest success with a 25 individuals captured in 1 day.