How Beaver-damming Affects Habitat Availability for Northwestern Pond and Western Painted Turtles
Start Date
3-11-2024 3:10 PM
End Date
3-11-2024 3:19 PM
Abstract
Oregon is home to two native freshwater turtle species: the Northwestern pond turtle and the Western painted turtle. Both turtles are Oregon conservation strategy species with a status rating of sensitive, indicating declining populations. Oregon’s decline in these turtle’s populations is thought to be predominantly due to loss and degradation of habitat that results from development and urbanization. Beavers’ ability to dam streams and create ponds may be creating habitat usable by turtles, but the relationship is under-studied. This study assessed water temperature, basking habitat, and overall turtle habitat suitability at beaver-dammed and control ponds in Portland, Oregon. Beaver-dammed ponds had higher average basking habitat and larger temperature heterogeneity than control ponds.Beaver-dammed ponds scored significantly higher on a Turtle Habitat Survey than control ponds. These results provide support for the potential mechanisms behind how the act of beavers damming could create beneficial habitat for native freshwater turtles in Oregon. Suggestions for future research include focusing on all aspects of how beaver-damming could be improving turtle habitat, conducting the Turtle Habitat Survey blind, and attempting the water temperature monitoring portion of the study again.
Lessons learned from this project include the trials and tribulations of data collection in an urban setting including: limited access, personal safety, and equipment tampering. Large volumes of water temperature data were lost due to wildlife and human interference. New methods for deploying temperature loggers have been formulated to ensure water temperature loggers can endure being left in ponds for months at a time.
Subjects
Animal ecology, Environmental policy, Habitat assessment
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/41420
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.
How Beaver-damming Affects Habitat Availability for Northwestern Pond and Western Painted Turtles
Oregon is home to two native freshwater turtle species: the Northwestern pond turtle and the Western painted turtle. Both turtles are Oregon conservation strategy species with a status rating of sensitive, indicating declining populations. Oregon’s decline in these turtle’s populations is thought to be predominantly due to loss and degradation of habitat that results from development and urbanization. Beavers’ ability to dam streams and create ponds may be creating habitat usable by turtles, but the relationship is under-studied. This study assessed water temperature, basking habitat, and overall turtle habitat suitability at beaver-dammed and control ponds in Portland, Oregon. Beaver-dammed ponds had higher average basking habitat and larger temperature heterogeneity than control ponds.Beaver-dammed ponds scored significantly higher on a Turtle Habitat Survey than control ponds. These results provide support for the potential mechanisms behind how the act of beavers damming could create beneficial habitat for native freshwater turtles in Oregon. Suggestions for future research include focusing on all aspects of how beaver-damming could be improving turtle habitat, conducting the Turtle Habitat Survey blind, and attempting the water temperature monitoring portion of the study again.
Lessons learned from this project include the trials and tribulations of data collection in an urban setting including: limited access, personal safety, and equipment tampering. Large volumes of water temperature data were lost due to wildlife and human interference. New methods for deploying temperature loggers have been formulated to ensure water temperature loggers can endure being left in ponds for months at a time.