Abstract
1. Turtles from Asia are on the brink of extinction with 53% of species considered endangered or critically endangered. Unfortunately, the ecology of many threatened species remains largely unknown.
2. In this study, the diet of the endangered Beale’s eyed turtle (Sacalia bealei) was investigated using two methods, visual faecal content analysis and stable isotope analysis.
3. Results from both methods indicated that S. bealei is highly reliant on riparian resources, especially fruits and terrestrial insects. Stable isotope data indicated that terrestrial resources made up around half (47–53%) of all assimilated food resources. These findings suggest that S. bealei facilitates energy flow from riparian forests to stream ecosystems. Moreover, S. bealei is likely to be a seed disperser for riparian plants.
4. This study represents the first application of stable isotope methods to examine the diet of Asian freshwater turtles and their resource use. We stress the importance of similar studies to improve our understanding of remnant turtle populations before they disappear as a result of human activities.
2. In this study, the diet of the endangered Beale’s eyed turtle (Sacalia bealei) was investigated using two methods, visual faecal content analysis and stable isotope analysis.
3. Results from both methods indicated that S. bealei is highly reliant on riparian resources, especially fruits and terrestrial insects. Stable isotope data indicated that terrestrial resources made up around half (47–53%) of all assimilated food resources. These findings suggest that S. bealei facilitates energy flow from riparian forests to stream ecosystems. Moreover, S. bealei is likely to be a seed disperser for riparian plants.
4. This study represents the first application of stable isotope methods to examine the diet of Asian freshwater turtles and their resource use. We stress the importance of similar studies to improve our understanding of remnant turtle populations before they disappear as a result of human activities.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2804-2813 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| Early online date | 11 Aug 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Funding
This project was supported by Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF 2017‐04) and Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong (RP01.1516 and RP01.1718). We are grateful to Lily Ng, Franco Ka‐Wah Leung, Wing Sing Chan, Ho Nam Ng, Henry Lee and Sum Leung for their assistance in the field and laboratory. We thank Chiu Pang and Kay Law for seed identification. We also thank Chris KC Wong and Eryn Ng for administrative support. We are grateful to Itzue Caviedes‐Solis for comments on the manuscript.
Keywords
- Allochthonous resource
- Asian turtle crisis
- chelonian
- ecological role
- foraging ecology
- freshwater stream
- Hong Kong
