{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/90519"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/90519","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Spatial ecology of the smooth softshell turtle (Apalone mutica) in the Kaskaskia River of Illinois","abstract":"River ecosystems have suffered widespread anthropogenic degradation that threatens their functionality, putting specialized river turtles at risk of population declines. The conservation of such populations requires knowledge of space use including movement rates, home range size, and habitat preference. Spatial ecological information is lacking for many river turtles including the Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone mutica), a species inhabiting the Midwestern United States. I investigated the spatial ecology of A. mutica in two reaches of the Kaskaskia River in south-central Illinois from 2013-2014. My objectives were to determine principal components of movement and variables influencing movement rate (m/day), the best estimate of home range size (ha) and variables influencing home range size, and habitat preference at varying spatial scales. I radio-equipped 40 A. mutica and collected location, environmental, and habitat data at every radio-location. Vagility was greater in the higher stream order, whereas sedentary behavior was similar in both stream orders. A mixed-effects model indicated movement rate increased with water temperature except at high temperatures. Movement rate decreased with Julian date and was higher in the larger stream order. Females increased movement during higher water levels. I determined that 95% kernel density estimates clipped to the river channel are the best estimate of home range size. A linear model indicated home range size increased with movement rate and the number of radio-locations and was larger in the higher stream order. I used compositional analysis to determine habitat preference of home range within the study area (2nd order) and radio-locations within the home range (3rd order). Habitat categories were bar, pool, bar-pool transition, run, and channelized. At a large spatial scale, A. mutica established home ranges in the main river channel near meander bends. Within home ranges, males preferred bars over all other habitats and females preferred pools. Mixed models indicated females used deeper waters than males, but neither sex showed an affinity for deadwood. Overall, there were clear sexual differences in habitat preference, but sexual differences in movement rate and home range size were less pronounced. Conservation efforts should focus on reducing effects of fragmentation, maintaining natural flow regimes and restoring river channels to their natural geomorphological state. These conservation actions will benefit A. mutica and increase biodiversity and connectivity of riverine ecosystems.","abstract_html":"River ecosystems have suffered widespread anthropogenic degradation that threatens their functionality, putting specialized river turtles at risk of population declines. The conservation of such populations requires knowledge of space use including movement rates, home range size, and habitat preference. Spatial ecological information is lacking for many river turtles including the Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone mutica), a species inhabiting the Midwestern United States. I investigated the spatial ecology of A. mutica in two reaches of the Kaskaskia River in south-central Illinois from 2013-2014. My objectives were to determine principal components of movement and variables influencing movement rate (m/day), the best estimate of home range size (ha) and variables influencing home range size, and habitat preference at varying spatial scales. I radio-equipped 40 A. mutica and collected location, environmental, and habitat data at every radio-location. Vagility was greater in the higher stream order, whereas sedentary behavior was similar in both stream orders. A mixed-effects model indicated movement rate increased with water temperature except at high temperatures. Movement rate decreased with Julian date and was higher in the larger stream order. Females increased movement during higher water levels. I determined that 95% kernel density estimates clipped to the river channel are the best estimate of home range size. A linear model indicated home range size increased with movement rate and the number of radio-locations and was larger in the higher stream order. I used compositional analysis to determine habitat preference of home range within the study area (2nd order) and radio-locations within the home range (3rd order). Habitat categories were bar, pool, bar-pool transition, run, and channelized. At a large spatial scale, A. mutica established home ranges in the main river channel near meander bends. Within home ranges, males preferred bars over all other habitats and females preferred pools. Mixed models indicated females used deeper waters than males, but neither sex showed an affinity for deadwood. Overall, there were clear sexual differences in habitat preference, but sexual differences in movement rate and home range size were less pronounced. Conservation efforts should focus on reducing effects of fragmentation, maintaining natural flow regimes and restoring river channels to their natural geomorphological state. These conservation actions will benefit A. mutica and increase biodiversity and connectivity of riverine ecosystems.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ross, Jason P."],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dreslik, Michael J."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-07-07T19:53:36Z","date_published":"2016-07-07T19:53:36Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:32Z","subjects":["biology","habitat","smooth","softshell","turtle","apalone","mutica","spatial","ecology","kaskaskia","river","conservation","movement","illinois"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2016 Jason Patrick Ross"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90519","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dreslik, Michael J."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ross, Jason P."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2016-07-07T19:53:36Z","2016-04-11","2016-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["biology","habitat","smooth","softshell","turtle","apalone","mutica","spatial","ecology","kaskaskia","river","conservation","movement","illinois"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2016 Jason Patrick Ross"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90519"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["River ecosystems have suffered widespread anthropogenic degradation that threatens their functionality, putting specialized river turtles at risk of population declines. The conservation of such populations requires knowledge of space use including movement rates, home range size, and habitat preference. Spatial ecological information is lacking for many river turtles including the Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone mutica), a species inhabiting the Midwestern United States. I investigated the spatial ecology of A. mutica in two reaches of the Kaskaskia River in south-central Illinois from 2013-2014. My objectives were to determine principal components of movement and variables influencing movement rate (m/day), the best estimate of home range size (ha) and variables influencing home range size, and habitat preference at varying spatial scales. I radio-equipped 40 A. mutica and collected location, environmental, and habitat data at every radio-location. Vagility was greater in the higher stream order, whereas sedentary behavior was similar in both stream orders. A mixed-effects model indicated movement rate increased with water temperature except at high temperatures. Movement rate decreased with Julian date and was higher in the larger stream order. Females increased movement during higher water levels. I determined that 95% kernel density estimates clipped to the river channel are the best estimate of home range size. A linear model indicated home range size increased with movement rate and the number of radio-locations and was larger in the higher stream order. I used compositional analysis to determine habitat preference of home range within the study area (2nd order) and radio-locations within the home range (3rd order). Habitat categories were bar, pool, bar-pool transition, run, and channelized. At a large spatial scale, A. mutica established home ranges in the main river channel near meander bends. Within home ranges, males preferred bars over all other habitats and females preferred pools. Mixed models indicated females used deeper waters than males, but neither sex showed an affinity for deadwood. Overall, there were clear sexual differences in habitat preference, but sexual differences in movement rate and home range size were less pronounced. Conservation efforts should focus on reducing effects of fragmentation, maintaining natural flow regimes and restoring river channels to their natural geomorphological state. These conservation actions will benefit A. mutica and increase biodiversity and connectivity of riverine ecosystems.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2016-07-07 without embargo terms","The student, Jason Ross, accepted the attached license on 2016-04-09 at 01:18.","The student, Jason Ross, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2016-04-09 at 01:55.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2016-04-11 at 15:31.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9177 on 2016-07-07 at 13:29:39","Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T19:53:36Z (GMT). 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Spatial ecological information is lacking for many river turtles including the Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone mutica), a species inhabiting the Midwestern United States. I investigated the spatial ecology of A. mutica in two reaches of the Kaskaskia River in south-central Illinois from 2013-2014. My objectives were to determine principal components of movement and variables influencing movement rate (m/day), the best estimate of home range size (ha) and variables influencing home range size, and habitat preference at varying spatial scales. I radio-equipped 40 A. mutica and collected location, environmental, and habitat data at every radio-location. Vagility was greater in the higher stream order, whereas sedentary behavior was similar in both stream orders. A mixed-effects model indicated movement rate increased with water temperature except at high temperatures. Movement rate decreased with Julian date and was higher in the larger stream order. Females increased movement during higher water levels. I determined that 95% kernel density estimates clipped to the river channel are the best estimate of home range size. A linear model indicated home range size increased with movement rate and the number of radio-locations and was larger in the higher stream order. I used compositional analysis to determine habitat preference of home range within the study area (2nd order) and radio-locations within the home range (3rd order). Habitat categories were bar, pool, bar-pool transition, run, and channelized. At a large spatial scale, A. mutica established home ranges in the main river channel near meander bends. Within home ranges, males preferred bars over all other habitats and females preferred pools. Mixed models indicated females used deeper waters than males, but neither sex showed an affinity for deadwood. Overall, there were clear sexual differences in habitat preference, but sexual differences in movement rate and home range size were less pronounced. Conservation efforts should focus on reducing effects of fragmentation, maintaining natural flow regimes and restoring river channels to their natural geomorphological state. These conservation actions will benefit A. mutica and increase biodiversity and connectivity of riverine ecosystems.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2016-07-07 without embargo terms","The student, Jason Ross, accepted the attached license on 2016-04-09 at 01:18.","The student, Jason Ross, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2016-04-09 at 01:55.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2016-04-11 at 15:31.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9177 on 2016-07-07 at 13:29:39","Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T19:53:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 ROSS-THESIS-2016.pdf: 75410029 bytes, checksum: 50828ea2455c8fabab50f6debc302148 (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4207 bytes, checksum: 61c79371d37b73d65dbcaeb11887d27c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-11"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90519"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2016 Jason Patrick Ross"],"dc:subject":["biology","habitat","smooth","softshell","turtle","apalone","mutica","spatial","ecology","kaskaskia","river","conservation","movement","illinois"],"dc:title":["Spatial ecology of the smooth softshell turtle (Apalone mutica) in the Kaskaskia River of Illinois"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:32Z"}