| Turtles (order Testudines) are an ancient but highly threatened vertebrate group. Successful preservation of biodiversity in this group (as in others) requires identification of current threats, species-level traits that modulate vulnerability to these threats, and both general and species-specific strategies for mitigating threats. In this dissertation, I address these research needs for several Wisconsin turtles, focusing on the IUCN-Endangered Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii). The approaches used here encompass multiple spatial scales, combine genetic and demographic methods of characterizing population viability and spatial ecology, and utilize comparisons among species, specifically by comparing endangered Blanding's turtles with more common co-occurring painted turtles (Chrysemys picta ) and snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina).;Each chapter of this dissertation is written and formatted as a manuscript for publication in a scholarly journal. Chapter 1 (published in Diversity and Distributions) investigates the population-level demographic and genetic responses of three turtle species with differing habitat preferences and life histories to roads and climate. Chapter 2 (prepared for submission to Molecular Ecology) describes the effects of past and present landscape features on population genetic structure in this same suite of turtle species. Chapter 3 (submitted to Methods in Ecology and Evolution) develops a novel method for estimating dispersal rates from genetic kinship data and uses this method to investigate the spatial ecology of nesting female Blanding's turtles. Finally, Chapter 4 (submitted to Biological Conservation) deals with the demographic response of a population of Blanding's turtles to habitat restoration. Overall, the work collected here demonstrates how differences in species' life history traits and habitat preferences can affect their vulnerability to environmental change and suggests how strategies for managing populations and genetic diversity can be tailored to these traits. |
