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Are a group of basking Red‐belly turtles actually social? Evelyn Ramirez and Charles W. Gunnels IV Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University 10501 FGCU Blvd. South, Ft. Myers, FL 33965 Results Abstract Social interac,ons, although costly, are exhibited by countless organisms. These interac,ons range in structure from very simple to extremely complex. Ironically, it has been extremely complex social groups, such as honey bees and naked mole rats, that have been studied the most extensively. Basking freshwater turtles may be a perfect model organism to study the forma,on of the most simple social groups. Turtles can group while basking, but this behavior has been overlooked as social because of the limited amount of sociality observed among most species of rep,les. Turtles, like other rep,les, bask to thermoregulate their body temperature, and have been assumed to do so in groups as a result of habitat restric,ons. Through this study, we examined whether red‐belly turtles, Pseudemys nelsoni, on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University bask together because they are social or as a result of limited suitable basking loca,ons. Sociality implies that Red‐belly turtles aggregate because they search each other out within the environment to bask together. By comparison, grouping results from the random distribu,on of individuals within a limited environment. To determine if turtles choose to bask socially, we provided animals with a choice of two iden,cal plaForms spaced 10 m apart. The results of this paired test were compared to a null model of how individuals should distribute randomly between two discrete sites. This study revealed that red‐belly turtles display a very simple form of sociality. FGCU map displaying sites of basking plaQorms. PlaQorm Design Methods Sampling Method Eighty preliminary observa,ons were made without plaForms to assess how turtles naturally bask in an urban environment, such as FGCU. Scan sampling was used to survey naturally occurring popula,ons of red‐belly turtles. Data were collected twice a day, at 10:00 am and at 3:00 pm over 10 days distributed haphazardly between December 12 th ‐ January 29 th to determine the number of turtles observed basking on natural basking sites, i.e. a rock or log. Pairs of plaForms were then placed into four lakes to determine whether basking turtles are social. Two plaForms spaced 10 meters apart were posi,oned in each lake away from shorelines, rocks, fountains, bridges, or any other poten,al points of disturbance. Scan sample observa,ons were collected of turtles basking on the plaForms. CreaSon of null model A null model of turtles was constructed based on a binomial distribu,on. A random number was generated in R based on a binomial probability mass func,on (5). This binomial distribu,on provided a mathema,cal representa,on of how turtles could randomly bask on either of two plaForms. Separate null models were created for each observed popula,on of turtles, ranging from 2‐ 15 individuals to describe how each popula,on size would randomly distribute between two plaForms. Each null model was run 10,000 ,mes. For each itera,on of the model, the larger of the two values was used to create the random distribu,on. These random distribu,ons were then compared with observed distribu,ons of basking turtles in a series of t‐test. Discussion Sociality of red‐belly turtles? Red‐belly turtles appear to bask socially; groups of turtles basking together are not mere aggrega,ons. Freshwater red‐belly turtles appear to search for each other within the environment for popula,on sizes of two and three animals. Turtles appear to be social for larger popula,on sizes based on the propor,on of animals basking on the more populated plaForm. ConservaSon Ins,lla,on of basking plaForms in urban appears to enhance the environment for freshwater turtles. Red‐belly turtles were observed basking in higher numbers only aWer plaForms were installed. Red‐belly turtles on the campus of FGCU experience loss of habitat and human disturbances due to urbaniza,on. Maintenance of wildlife in urban seYngs can be improved by addressing the needs of animals, including physiological, reproduc,ve, and behavioral. As more habitats become urbanized, it is essen,al to start understanding how turtles respond to urban waterways and how they interact with each other (6). Ins,lla,on of basking plaForms in urban waterways can provide turtles with a basking loca,on that is free of disturbance. Knowledge that these turtles are social is essen,al to consider the species’ needs. These results suggest that providing one or two suitable basking site per urban lake should support healthy popula,ons of red‐ belly turtles. Future Studies At this point, we know that red‐belly turtles bask socially. However, we do not know the level of interac,ons that turtles show while basking. Determining how turtles interact while basking will help us determine the level of sociality that red‐belly turtles display. As part of this effort, we will tag the animals to determine how individuals interact with each other. This informa,on will help to determine the social structure of the species. In addi,on, we hope to determine why red‐belly turtles bask socially. For example, turtles may bask socially this enhances thermoregula,on or minimizes preda,on risk. Acknowledgment The Animal Behavior Research Group of Florida Gulf Coast University for giving me guidance and sugges,on to improve this study. Hannah Diss who helped ini,ate this study in 2009. Dr. Marilyn Cruz‐Alvarez for all the input she has provided. Everyone who assisted in either building, removing, or installing the plaForms, including Juan J. Ramirez, Ching Lee, David Cavanaugh, Virginia Crosbie, Elliot Kneba, and Dr. Win Everham. References 1) Sameneuk, C.A.D., and Dill, L.M. (2004). Costs/benefits of group and solitary res,ng in the cowtail s,ngray, Pas/nachus sephen. Behavioral Ecology, vol. 16 (2), p. 417‐426. 2) Leu, S.T., Bashford, J., Kappeler, P. M., and Bull, C. M. (2010). Associa,on networks reveal social organiza,on in the sleepy lizard. Animal Behaviour, 79(1), p. 217‐225. 3)Lancaster, J. R., Wilson, P., & Espinoza, R. E. (2006). Physiological benefits as precursors of sociality: Why banded geckos band. Animal Behaviour, 72(1), p.199‐207. 4)Wikelski, M., Carbone, C., and Trillmich, F. (1996). Lekking in marine iguanas: female grouping and male reproduc,ve strategies. Animal Behaviour v. 52, p. 581‐96. 5)Kachitvichyanukul, V., Schmeiser W. (1988). Binomial Random Variate Genera,on. Journal of the Associa/on for Conpu/ng Machinery, v. 312, p. 216‐222. 6)Spinks, P. Q., Pauly, G. B., Crayon, J. J., & Bradley Shaffer, H. (2003). Survival of the western pond turtle (emys marmorata) in an urban california environment. Biological Conserva/on, v. 113(2), p. 257‐267. IntroducSon Sociality Sociality requires that individuals search each other out to huddle within the environment. For example, s,ngrays will form social groups in response to predators (1). AggregaSons Not all groups are social. A group of birds that collect seeds from the same backyard feeder may not be social. These birds may aggregate because the feeder provides a limited resource, i.e. food, in a patchy environment. In this case, the birds are not social; they are simply constrained by this limited patchy resource. RepSles As a clade, rep,les are mostly solitary (2). However , there are excep,ons. Several species of Australian skinks (Egemia and Tiliquia spp.) display complex social behaviors, including reproduc,ve altruism, long‐term family groups, monogamy, and parental care (3). Addi,onally , several species from geckos to marine iguanas will form social groups to enhance thermoregula,on (4). Are Basking freshwater turtles social? Groups of freshwater turtles are frequently found basking on the same rock or log. These turtles may show a form of simple social groups in rep,les. If this is the case, freshwater turtles are ac,vely searching each other out to bask. However, aggrega,ons of freshwater turtles may result as a response to a limited patchy resource, in this case the rock or log. If basking sites are limited, then aggrega,ons of basking turtles represent a default response to a limited resource. Research ObjecSve To determine whether freshwater turtles bask socially, we need to determine whether grouping results from a response to the environment or a choice to seek out other individuals. Figure 1: Red‐belly turtles bask more when plaForms are present (Mann‐ Whitney U‐test: U = 9757.5, N absent =76, N present = 402, p < 0.001). Figure 2: Red‐belly turtles are social when two animals are observed basking (t = 3.71, df = 37, p < 0.001) as well as when three animals bask together (t = 2.03, df = 26, p = 0.05). Figure 3: The propor,on of red‐belly turtles basking socially for popula,ons of 4 – 15 animals was more than expected (t = 4.43, df = 91, p < 0.001).

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Page 1: Are a group of basking Red‐belly turtles actually …faculty.fgcu.edu/.../eramirez_turtleposter_final.pdfDepartment of Biological Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University 10501 FGCU

AreagroupofbaskingRed‐bellyturtlesactuallysocial?EvelynRamirezandCharlesW.GunnelsIV

DepartmentofBiologicalSciences,FloridaGulfCoastUniversity10501FGCUBlvd.South,Ft.Myers,FL33965

ResultsAbstractSocialinterac,ons,althoughcostly,areexhibitedbycountlessorganisms.Theseinterac,onsrangeinstructurefromverysimpletoextremelycomplex.Ironically,ithasbeenextremelycomplexsocialgroups,suchashoneybeesandnakedmolerats,thathavebeenstudiedthemostextensively.Baskingfreshwaterturtlesmaybeaperfectmodelorganismtostudytheforma,onofthemostsimplesocialgroups.Turtlescangroupwhilebasking,butthisbehaviorhasbeenoverlookedassocialbecauseofthelimitedamountofsocialityobservedamongmostspeciesofrep,les.Turtles,likeotherrep,les,basktothermoregulatetheirbodytemperature,andhavebeenassumedtodosoingroupsasaresultofhabitatrestric,ons.Throughthisstudy,weexaminedwhetherred‐bellyturtles,Pseudemysnelsoni,onthecampusofFloridaGulfCoastUniversitybasktogetherbecausetheyaresocialorasaresultoflimitedsuitablebaskingloca,ons.SocialityimpliesthatRed‐bellyturtlesaggregatebecausetheysearcheachotheroutwithintheenvironmenttobasktogether.Bycomparison,groupingresultsfromtherandomdistribu,onofindividualswithinalimitedenvironment.Todetermineifturtleschoosetobasksocially,weprovidedanimalswithachoiceoftwoiden,calplaFormsspaced10mapart.Theresultsofthispairedtestwerecomparedtoanullmodelofhowindividualsshoulddistributerandomlybetweentwodiscretesites.Thisstudyrevealedthatred‐bellyturtlesdisplayaverysimpleformofsociality.

FGCUmapdisplayingsitesofbaskingplaQorms.

PlaQormDesign

MethodsSamplingMethod

Eightypreliminaryobserva,onsweremadewithoutplaFormstoassesshowturtlesnaturallybaskinanurbanenvironment,suchasFGCU.Scansamplingwasusedtosurveynaturallyoccurringpopula,onsofred‐bellyturtles.Datawerecollectedtwiceaday,at10:00amandat3:00pmover10daysdistributedhaphazardlybetweenDecember12th‐January29thtodeterminethenumberofturtlesobservedbaskingonnaturalbaskingsites,i.e.arockorlog.PairsofplaFormswerethenplacedintofourlakestodeterminewhetherbaskingturtlesaresocial.TwoplaFormsspaced10metersapartwereposi,onedineachlakeawayfromshorelines,rocks,fountains,bridges,oranyotherpoten,alpointsofdisturbance.Scansampleobserva,onswerecollectedofturtlesbaskingontheplaForms.

CreaSonofnullmodelAnullmodelofturtleswasconstructedbasedonabinomialdistribu,on.ArandomnumberwasgeneratedinRbasedonabinomialprobabilitymassfunc,on(5).Thisbinomialdistribu,onprovidedamathema,calrepresenta,onofhowturtlescouldrandomlybaskoneitheroftwoplaForms.Separatenullmodelswerecreatedforeachobservedpopula,onofturtles,rangingfrom2‐15individualstodescribehoweachpopula,onsizewouldrandomlydistributebetweentwoplaForms.Eachnullmodelwasrun10,000,mes.Foreachitera,onofthemodel,thelargerofthetwovalueswasusedtocreatetherandomdistribu,on.Theserandomdistribu,onswerethencomparedwithobserveddistribu,onsofbaskingturtlesinaseriesoft‐test.

DiscussionSocialityofred‐bellyturtles?

Red‐bellyturtlesappeartobasksocially;groupsofturtlesbaskingtogetherarenotmereaggrega,ons.Freshwaterred‐bellyturtlesappeartosearchforeachotherwithintheenvironmentforpopula,onsizesoftwoandthreeanimals.Turtlesappeartobesocialforlargerpopula,onsizesbasedonthepropor,onofanimalsbaskingonthemorepopulatedplaForm.

ConservaSonIns,lla,onofbaskingplaFormsinurbanappearstoenhancetheenvironmentforfreshwaterturtles.Red‐bellyturtleswereobservedbaskinginhighernumbersonlyaWerplaFormswereinstalled.Red‐bellyturtlesonthecampusofFGCUexperiencelossofhabitatandhumandisturbancesduetourbaniza,on.MaintenanceofwildlifeinurbanseYngscanbeimprovedbyaddressingtheneedsofanimals,includingphysiological,reproduc,ve,andbehavioral.Asmorehabitatsbecomeurbanized,itisessen,altostartunderstandinghowturtlesrespondtourbanwaterwaysandhowtheyinteractwitheachother(6).Ins,lla,onofbaskingplaFormsinurbanwaterwayscanprovideturtleswithabaskingloca,onthatisfreeofdisturbance.Knowledgethattheseturtlesaresocialisessen,altoconsiderthespecies’needs.Theseresultssuggestthatprovidingoneortwosuitablebaskingsiteperurbanlakeshouldsupporthealthypopula,onsofred‐bellyturtles.

FutureStudiesAtthispoint,weknowthatred‐bellyturtlesbasksocially.However,wedonotknowthelevelofinterac,onsthatturtlesshowwhilebasking.Determininghowturtlesinteractwhilebaskingwillhelpusdeterminethelevelofsocialitythatred‐bellyturtlesdisplay.Aspartofthiseffort,wewilltagtheanimalstodeterminehowindividualsinteractwitheachother.Thisinforma,onwillhelptodeterminethesocialstructureofthespecies.Inaddi,on,wehopetodeterminewhyred‐bellyturtlesbasksocially.Forexample,turtlesmaybasksociallythisenhancesthermoregula,onorminimizespreda,onrisk.

AcknowledgmentTheAnimalBehaviorResearchGroupofFloridaGulfCoastUniversityforgivingmeguidanceandsugges,ontoimprovethisstudy.HannahDisswhohelpedini,atethisstudyin2009.Dr.MarilynCruz‐Alvarezforalltheinputshehasprovided.Everyonewhoassistedineitherbuilding,removing,orinstallingtheplaForms,includingJuanJ.Ramirez,ChingLee,DavidCavanaugh,VirginiaCrosbie,ElliotKneba,andDr.WinEverham.

References1)Sameneuk,C.A.D.,andDill,L.M.(2004).Costs/benefitsofgroupandsolitaryres,nginthecowtails,ngray,Pas/nachussephen.BehavioralEcology,vol.16(2),p.417‐426.2)Leu,S.T.,Bashford,J.,Kappeler,P.M.,andBull,C.M.(2010).Associa,onnetworksrevealsocialorganiza,oninthesleepylizard.AnimalBehaviour,79(1),p.217‐225.3)Lancaster,J.R.,Wilson,P.,&Espinoza,R.E.(2006).Physiologicalbenefitsasprecursorsofsociality:Whybandedgeckosband.AnimalBehaviour,72(1),p.199‐207.4)Wikelski,M.,Carbone,C.,andTrillmich,F.(1996).Lekkinginmarineiguanas:femalegroupingandmalereproduc,vestrategies.AnimalBehaviourv.52,p.581‐96.5)Kachitvichyanukul,V.,SchmeiserW.(1988).BinomialRandomVariateGenera,on.JournaloftheAssocia/onforConpu/ngMachinery,v.312,p.216‐222.6)Spinks,P.Q.,Pauly,G.B.,Crayon,J.J.,&BradleyShaffer,H.(2003).Survivalofthewesternpondturtle(emysmarmorata)inanurbancaliforniaenvironment.Biological

Conserva/on,v.113(2),p.257‐267.

IntroducSonSociality

Socialityrequiresthatindividualssearcheachotherouttohuddlewithintheenvironment.Forexample,s,ngrayswillformsocialgroupsinresponsetopredators(1).

AggregaSonsNotallgroupsaresocial.Agroupofbirdsthatcollectseedsfromthesamebackyardfeedermaynotbesocial.Thesebirdsmayaggregatebecausethefeederprovidesalimitedresource,i.e.food,inapatchyenvironment.Inthiscase,thebirdsarenotsocial;theyaresimplyconstrainedbythislimitedpatchyresource.

RepSlesAsaclade,rep,lesaremostlysolitary(2).However,thereareexcep,ons.SeveralspeciesofAustralianskinks(EgemiaandTiliquiaspp.)displaycomplexsocialbehaviors,includingreproduc,vealtruism,long‐termfamilygroups,monogamy,andparentalcare(3).Addi,onally,severalspeciesfromgeckostomarineiguanaswillformsocialgroupstoenhancethermoregula,on(4).

AreBaskingfreshwaterturtlessocial?Groupsoffreshwaterturtlesarefrequentlyfoundbaskingonthesamerockorlog.Theseturtlesmayshowaformofsimplesocialgroupsinrep,les.Ifthisisthecase,freshwaterturtlesareac,velysearchingeachotherouttobask.However,aggrega,onsoffreshwaterturtlesmayresultasaresponsetoalimitedpatchyresource,inthiscasetherockorlog.Ifbaskingsitesarelimited,thenaggrega,onsofbaskingturtlesrepresentadefaultresponsetoalimitedresource.

ResearchObjecSveTodeterminewhetherfreshwaterturtlesbasksocially,weneedtodeterminewhethergroupingresultsfromaresponsetotheenvironmentorachoicetoseekoutotherindividuals.

Figure1:Red‐bellyturtlesbaskmorewhenplaFormsarepresent(Mann‐WhitneyU‐test:U=9757.5,Nabsent=76,Npresent=402,p<0.001).

Figure2:Red‐bellyturtlesaresocialwhentwoanimalsareobservedbasking(t=3.71,df=37,p<0.001)aswellaswhenthreeanimalsbasktogether(t=2.03,df=26,p=0.05).

Figure3:Thepropor,onofred‐bellyturtlesbaskingsociallyforpopula,onsof4–15animalswasmorethanexpected(t=4.43,df=91,p<0.001).

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