Quantification of turtle capture efficiency and the impact of development on plant communities within community-selected priority areas in Eastern Georgian Bay

Abstract

A worldwide biodiversity crisis coupled with rapid and irrevocable habitat destruction have caused many conservation groups and local communities to identify research and conservation priorities. In the Eastern Georgian Bay region of Ontario, linear developments such as roadways and transmission lines destroy and fragment pristine upland and wetland habitats, and are likely to have measurable effects on local ecology. Local First Nations, not-for-profits, and municipalities identified several habitats adjacent to linear developments as conservation priority areas, and turtle and plant communities affected by those linear developments as research priorities. The objective of my study was to provide communities with site-specific ecological data to inform their decision-making as they navigate land-use changes within local habitats. More specifically, I provided local partners with (i) turtle community census data, which I also used to assess the efficiency of different survey methods for turtles, and (ii) plant community census data, which I also used to assess how linear developments are affecting their overall health and composition. During my turtle community research, I located 772 turtles and found that survey efficiency (number of turtles caught per unit sampling effort) increased with warming temperatures in early spring, and that using multiple sampling methods may help decrease taxonomic and size biases. During my plant community research, I assessed the distribution of 10 tree species and 63 understory species across 150 upland forest plots at Magnetawan First Nation, which revealed that linear developments are affecting functional and taxonomic diversity of plant communities and facilitating establishment of introduced species. Overall, my study highlights the value in local partnerships, provides survey efficiency recommendations for freshwater turtle populations, and provides evidence that linear developments are or will negatively affect turtle and plant communities in the Eastern Georgian Bay region.