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Drabik-Hamshare M, Downs CT. Movement of leopard tortoises in response to environmental and climatic variables in a semi-arid environment. Mov Ecol. 2017;5:5doi: 10.1186/s40462-017-0096-y.
Drabik-Hamshare, M., & Downs, C. T. (2017). Movement of leopard tortoises in response to environmental and climatic variables in a semi-arid environment. Movement ecology, 55. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-017-0096-y
Drabik-Hamshare, Martyn, and Downs, Colleen T. "Movement of leopard tortoises in response to environmental and climatic variables in a semi-arid environment." Movement ecology vol. 5 (2017): 5. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-017-0096-y
Drabik-Hamshare M, Downs CT. Movement of leopard tortoises in response to environmental and climatic variables in a semi-arid environment. Mov Ecol. 2017 Mar 20;5:5. doi: 10.1186/s40462-017-0096-y. eCollection 2017. PMID: 28331618; PMCID: PMC5357812.
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Mov Ecol. 2017 Mar 20;5:5. doi: 10.1186/s40462-017-0096-y. eCollection 2017.

Movement of leopard tortoises in response to environmental and climatic variables in a semi-arid environment.

Movement ecology

Martyn Drabik-Hamshare, Colleen T Downs

Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal 3209 South Africa.

PMID: 28331618 PMCID: PMC5357812 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-017-0096-y

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Tortoises (Testudinidae) occur in a wide range of environments, providing important ecosystem functions, such as seed dispersal and refuge in the form of burrows. Tortoise movement has previously been shown to be related to resource availability, reproductive status and local environmental conditions. However, understanding of the variables that drive their movement remains comparatively low. We investigated aspects of movement in leopard tortoises

RESULTS: Temperature, distance from water sources, and month were important variables for predicting both bihourly and daily movement. Our results showed that movement increased when individuals were close to known water sources, indicating that individuals close to water resources make regular long distance movements. Movement showed a positive relationship for temperature in both models, whilst rainfall was an important predictor for bihourly movement. Our results displayed aspects of seasonality, with movement highest in spring months, likely related to reproductive activities, although no sex differences were observed.

CONCLUSIONS: We identified temporal and spatial conditions in which leopard tortoise movement increased. Our results further support the relationship between water as a resource and movement in leopard tortoises. Individuals used one of two basic movement behaviours in relation to water in this water scarce environment. Either an individual's home range and movements included permanent water resources allowing internal water storage replenishment, or excluded these with reliance on food resources (such as grasses, forbs, and succulents) for water.

Keywords: Electric fencing; Environmental variables; Karoo; Spatial ecology; Stigmochelys pardalis; Water loss

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