Graduate Student: Janna Willoughby
The distribution of populations and individuals within a landscape is influenced by the location and quantity of resources and barriers.
Habitat fragmentation, caused by barriers within an ecosystem, negatively impacts species by decreasing connectivity and therefore dispersal
between patches and resources. Over the past 25 years, the vehicle travel on US roads has almost doubled, heightening the concern for roads
in conservation. Populations of wood turtles, Glyptemys insculpta, have been steadily decreasing over the past 30 years likely due to the
destruction and degradation of habitat through the development of and roads. Roads may be especially hazardous to turtles as roads increase
predation risk, collection by humans, and mortality in turtle populations. Unfortunately, the fragmentation of wetlands and riparian habitat
has been largely ignored in scientific research. The objective of this project is to determine how fragmentation due to roads is affecting
current turtle populations by estimating population structure and dispersal.
Funding provided by:
Central Michigan University
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