Demographic and Reproductive Traits of Western Chicken Turtles,Deirochelys reticularia miaria, in Central Arkansas

Abstract

The Chicken Turtle, Deirochelys reticularia, is an understudied species despite the fact that it is distributed across much of the southeastern United States. In addition, no previous study has been conducted on the western subspecies, D. r. miaria, even though it is considered rare and possibly in decline within portions of its range. A capture–recapture study was conducted over 3 yr on a population of D. r. miaria in central Arkansas to determine demographic and reproductive characteristics. The population approached a male bias (1.9:1) and consisted of few total individuals (N = 42). Reproductive traits, including clutch, egg, and hatchling size, appear to be similar between D. r. miaria and eastern populations. Annual survival estimates were similar among males, females, and juveniles (0.70, 0.70, and 0.69, respectively) and did not change over the course of the study. Although low compared with most turtles, similar results have been reported for other populations of D. reticularia, which suggests that the species may have a different life-history strategy than that of most other chelonians. Due to this difference, management practices are likely to affect D. r. miaria differently from other turtle species.