SREL Reprint #3441

Tools and techniques for turtle studies: adjustable locks for hoop trap poles, nylon fencing for drift sets, and stick-on temporary identification

Justin D. Congdon1,2, Garfield H. Keaton1, Owen M. Kinney1,3, Roy D. Nagle1,4, and J. Whitfield Gibbons1

1University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, South Carolina 29802, USA
2Bar Boot Ranch, Douglas, Arizona 85608, USA
3Darlington School, Rome, Georgia 30161, USA
4Environmental Science and Studies, Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania 16652, USA

Introduction: Although many research protocols and techniques are described in scientific papers, authors rarely discuss methods or protocols that have been tried and abandoned. Passing on the lessons learned from previous studies can be valuable to novice researchers and to experienced researchers investigating new topics. Techniques papers that compare old techniques to newer ones (Gibbons and Greene 1979; Ewert and Legler 1988; Plummer and Ferner 2012; Nagle et al. 2017) can influence the initial design, planning, and logistics of research (Congdon and Dunham 1999) that may in turn reduce risk of injury to researchers and the stress or trauma experienced by study organisms. We describe three techniques developed during long-term field studies of turtles conducted at the University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and the University of Michigan E. S. George Reserve.

SREL Reprint #3441

Congdon, J. D., G. H. Keaton, O. M. Kinney, R. D. Nagle, and J. W. Gibbons. 2018. Tools and techniques for turtle studies: adjustable locks for hoop trap poles, nylon fencing for drift sets, and stick-on temporary identification. Herpetological Review 49(1): 29-31.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).