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Community Characteristics of Sympatric Freshwater Turtles from Savannah Waterbodies in Ghana

  • Wetland Animals
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Abstract

Despite increasing pressures on freshwater resources worldwide, and the threatened status of most freshwater turtles, there is still limited knowledge of habitat use and niche partitioning in Afrotropical freshwater turtle communities. In this study, we describe habitat associations, community diversity, and temporal patterns of occurrence of freshwater turtle species in the Dahomey Gap ecoregion of Ghana (West Africa). We gathered data from 13 sites in central Ghana and along the Sene Arm of Lake Volta in the Digya National Park (Bono East Region). We employed opportunistic short-term surveys (at seven sites) together with longer-term (six-months duration) standardized evaluations of turtle presence and numbers in different habitats (at six sites). Overall, a total of 210 turtle individuals of four species (Trionyx triunguis, Cyclanorbis senegalensis, Pelomedusa sp. and Pelusios castaneus) were recorded; precise capture sites and habitat type were recorded for 139 individuals, but the 71 individuals observed in marketplaces were not considered in our analyses. At a local scale, we observed three sympatric species in various study sites. In each of these sites, the dominant species was either C. senegalensis or Pelomedusa sp., with the latter species being more abundant in temporary waterbodies and C. senegalensis more numerous in permanent ones. A Multiple Correspondence Analysis suggested that, in permanent waterbodies all species were associated with similar physical habitat variables. In a Canonical Correspondence Analysis, we showed that the density of herbaceous emergent vegetation was more important for P. castaneus than for C. senegalensis. Comparisons of diversity metrics between our study sites and previous studies revealed that turtle community composition was similar across savannah sites.

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Acknowledgements

This study was conducted with permit from the Wildlife Division of the Ghana Forestry Commission (Permit number:WD/A.30/VOL. 9/14). Our deepest appreciation goes to the Rufford Foundation, Chelonian Research Foundation, Conservation International and Turtle Conservation Fund for supporting this work and to the management and staff of the Digya National Park for field support, and to three anonymous referees for constructive comments on the submitted draft.

Funding

Rufford Foundation (to SBG), Linnaeus Fund Research Award by Chelonian Research Foundation (two grants to LL), Conservation International (to LL), Turtle Conservation Fund (two grants to LL and one to SBG), financially supported field research on West African chelonians that also allowed to carry out several steps of the present study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nature Conservation Research Centre, Accra, Ghana

    Suleman B. Gbewaa

  2. Department of Wildlife and Range Management, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana

    Suleman B. Gbewaa, S. Kobby Oppong & Paul Tehoda

  3. Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, NY, USA

    Brian D. Horne

  4. Ecolobby, Rome, Italy

    Fabio Petrozzi

  5. Institute for Development, Ecology, Conservation and Cooperation, via G. Tomasi di Lampedusa, 33-00144, Rome, Italy

    Daniele Dendi, Godfrey C. Akani, Stephanie N. Ajong & Luca Luiselli

  6. Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, P.M.B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

    Fabio Petrozzi, Daniele Dendi, Godfrey C. Akani, Massimiliano Di Vittorio & Luca Luiselli

  7. Department of Zoology, University of Lomé, Lomé, Togo

    Daniele Dendi & Luca Luiselli

  8. Ecologia Applicata Italia s.r.l, Termini Imerese, PA, Italy

    Massimiliano Di Vittorio

  9. Department of Fisheries, Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria

    Stephanie N. Ajong

  10. Department of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy

    Nic Pacini

  11. Department of Natural Sciences, School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M1 5GD, UK

    Julia E. Fa

  12. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), CIFOR Headquarters, Bogor, 16115, Indonesia

    Julia E. Fa

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  1. Suleman B. Gbewaa
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  2. S. Kobby Oppong
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  12. Luca Luiselli
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Contributions

LL suggested the subject and the method of manuscript; SBG, SKO, PT, FP, DD, GCA, SNA, LL make the field study; SBG, MDV, LL, DD, NP analyzed the data; SBG, NP, BDH, JEF, LL prepared the first draft; all authors reviewed and approved the final draft.

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Correspondence to Luca Luiselli.

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Gbewaa, S.B., Oppong, S.K., Horne, B.D. et al. Community Characteristics of Sympatric Freshwater Turtles from Savannah Waterbodies in Ghana. Wetlands 41, 61 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-021-01459-w

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