Download Introduction to the Project and Turtle Biology

Name: _________________________________________ Date: _________ Class:_______________
1. Turtle Anatomy: Use the labeled turtle diagram to correctly label the photograph of the red-bellied
picture below:
Figure 1:
Figure 2:
2. Compare the diagram to the real photograph and describe any differences between them:
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3. Ecological Methods: When scientist study turtles over time, they need a method to identify turtles in
the environment. One method is by notching the turtle shell. You can determine a turtle’s identity be
reading the notches which translate into a number depending on where the notches are. To read the
notches, the shell is divided into quadrants.
How to read a shell:
upper left = 1’s
upper right = 10’s
bottom right = 100’s
bottom left = 1000’s
4. Draw arrows on the shell below where you would notch the shell to number the turtle 4321.
The shell below would be ________+ _____+ _____+ ___ =_4321______
Figure 3a:
5. The arrows below represent the notches. What would the number of these turtles be?
Figure 3b:
Turtle A Number: ________+ _____+ _____+ ___ =___________
Turtle B Number: ________+ _____+ _____+ ___ =___________
6. Have Mrs. Diedricksen show you the two turtles in the classroom. Draw their shells below
showing the notches and record the turtle numbers.
4. Food Web: Construct a food web for the red-bellied turtle. Label one producer, primary
consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer and a decomposer. Remember that the arrows
must point toward the organism getting the meal (represents energy flow). You may use the
information below to get started, but you may also research online or use the field guides provided
in the classroom.
Hatchling Predators: bull frog, great blue heron, largemouth bass, raccoon, snapping turtles
Nest predation: coyotes, crows, raccoons, red fox, skunks
Food: aquatic vegetation, snails, tadpoles, crayfish
5. What trophic level(s) does the redbellied turtle belong to? _________________________________
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6. Pick one food chain from your food web and draw it below:
7. Headstart Program: Here is a table showing the number of turtles released that were involved in
the headstart program. Assuming 100% survival and a breeding age of 15 years for all turtles, how
many turtles would currently be able to breed that came through the headstart program (1)?
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Analysis Questions:
1. What is the headstart program?
2. Why was Federal Pond selected as the site to take hatchlings from?
3. What would be the long term effect of only taking turtles from one pond for the headstart program,
other then decreases in the population size of that pond?
4. A new program director saw that the headstart program had brought the numbers of red-bellied
turtles up to the number outlined in the recovery plan as the number necessary to take the turtle off
the endangered species list. The program director acted to stop the headstart program and take the
species off of the endangered list. After 5 years, the turtle populations were significantly lower.
What could be reasons for the decline?
5. What would you do differently to ensure that the species had recovered to a sustainable number?
6. Where are the headstarted turtles now?
References:
1. Michael J. Amaral. Northern Red-bellied Cooter (Pseudemys rubriventris) 5-Year Review: Summary
and Evaluation May 3, 2007 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service New England Field Office Concord, New
Hampshire http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc1109.pdf
Images References:
Figure 1: From: http://reptilis.net/index4/scutes.jpg
Figure 2: www.turtlefarms.com/hatchling-special.htm
Figure 3: French, Tom. Headstart Protocol. Unpublished.
Table 1: Michael J. Amaral. Northern Red-bellied Cooter (Pseudemys rubriventris) 5-Year Review:
Summary and Evaluation May 3, 2007 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service New England Field Office
Concord, New Hampshire http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc1109.pdf