Habitat configuration and vegetation cover shapes locomotor abilities in tortoises: implications for conservation management

Abstract

Agility of Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni boettgeri Mojsisovics, 1889) plays a major role in their movement efficiency, concerning both their ability to overcome obstacles and the time needed for movements through the habitat. We analysed intra- and interpopulation differences in agility, using three experiments which mirrored natural obstacles in the tortoises’ habitats: righting when overturned on their back, leaping from the steep steps and releasing from “vegetation” stuck on the protuberant parts of the shell. All three tests showed high correlation between measured behavioural traits and habitat characteristics, while gender and body size correlated with agility only in some tests. These results suggest that habitat characteristics, like topography and vegetation cover, have an important effect on shaping the analysed behavioural performances. Such findings could have conservational value, especially in raising efficiency of translocation efforts. We propose that topography and vegetation of new habitat should mirror the environment where tortoises originated from. Additionally, temporary enclosures for tortoises should be constructed in a way that mimics the future habitats, thus enabling tortoises to learn how to cope with obstacles (e.g. positive and negative obstacles, dense vegetation) of new environment under controlled conditions.