Meeting Abstract

84.5  Sunday, Jan. 6  Temperatures of Trekking Turtles: Estimates by Water-filled Models and Hollow Te Thermometers KROCHMAL, A.R.*; BAKKEN, G.S.; Washington College; Indiana State University akrochmal2@washcoll.edu

Aquatic turtles take to land during oviposition or when seeking out new aquatic habitats. Though such overland treks are central to the biology of aquatic turtles, the physiological strain placed on turtles during such treks remains largely uninvestigated. During treks, turtles encounter environments that are thermally more extreme, more variable, and potentially more stressful than are their aquatic habitats. We tested 3 methods for predicting body temperature (Tb) during treks that might prove useful in management or climate change models. We exploited treks forced by annual drainage of artificial ponds for management purposes in our Maryland study area. Turtles at our site use habitual overland routes, allowing accurate pre-positioning of thermal sensors and thus accurate comparison between the Tb of free-ranging animals and Tb as estimated by an array of temperature sensors. We used and compared several proposed methods – (1) anatomically correct, water-filled, electroformed copper turtle models to estimate Tb directly, (2) hollow electroformed copper models and (3) approximate models consisting of sized-matched aluminum baking pans, both of which were used to compute Tb. Additionally, we used both (4) plain and (5) solar-absorptance matched Thermochrons to record temperature at sensor locations. Models were painted to approximate the solar absorptance of turtle shells and were calibrated against both turtle shells and live turtles. Model accuracy and precision will be discussed, and models will be evaluated for their suitability for use in management and climate change modeling.