The Mediterranean Pond Turtle shows resilience to extreme flood events

Abstract

Summary: In the present context of climate change and extreme weather events, understanding the impact of flood events on Mediterranean riverine ecosystems is key for conserving landscapes while preserving local biodiversity. In this study, we examined the impact of a major flood that occurred in November 2014 on the Baillaury River (Southern France) where a population of the Mediterranean Pond Turtle Mauremys leprosa (Schweigger, 1812) was monitored from 2012 to 2022. Survival, recruitment, and transition probabilities were estimated before and after the flood using Pradel Robust-Design and Multistate models. Although turtle population size decreased by 16 % immediately after flooding, the adult population rapidly returned to its initial state with a balanced sex ratio. This study highlights that neither the structure nor the temporal dynamics of the adult population were altered over a ten year period underlying the fast resilience of the species. The flood however mainly impacted the spatial dynamics of the population by increasing downstream movements of turtles, which resulted in changes of their distribution along the river.

Keywords

• Mauremys leprosa
• Climate change
• Robust-design and Multistate models
• Dispersal
• Extreme weather events
• BACI (Before After Control Impact)