NEST AREA SELECTION BY A RIVERINE AND AN ECOLOGICAL GENERALIST FRESHWATER TURTLE INHABITING AN URBAN SPRING SYSTEM

We tested whether individual females of two species of aquatic turtles, Texas cooters (Pseudemys texana) and red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans), inhabiting headwaters of the San Marcos River, Hays County, Texas, selectively used the same nesting areas within and among years over a 20-year period. The study area was divided into four quadrants, and chi-square analyses confirmed that for within and among years, females of both species selected quadrants unequally. Our results thus confirm that females of both species at the study site exhibited nest area fidelity within and among years.