Journal of Ecology and Environment

pISSN 2287-8327 eISSN 2288-1220

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Published online January 7, 2022
https://doi.org/10.5141/jee.21.00073

Journal of Ecology and Environment (2022) 46:01

Population dynamics of the red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) with changes in the population dependent carrying capacity in Republic of Korea

Yunju Wi1 , Gyujin Oh1 , Hee-Jin Kang2 , Ha-Cheol Sung3 , Seung-ju Cheon2 and Hong-Sung Jin1*

1Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea
2School of Biological of Sciences and Biotechnology, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea
3Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea

Correspondence to:Hong-Sung Jin
E-mail hjin@jnu.ac.kr

Received: September 28, 2021; Revised: November 24, 2021; Accepted: November 30, 2021

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The publisher of this article is The Ecological Society of Korea in collaboration with The Korean Society of Limnology

Abstract

Background: In this study, we proposed that the population dynamics of non-native red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) depends on the species’ habitat extension and survivorship. We used a logistic equation with time-dependent habitat carrying capacity. In detail, the present carrying capacity depends on the red-eared slider population of the previous year. Anthropogenic activities such as the abandonment of previously captive red-eared sliders or the release due to religion customs would supply new habitats to the species. Therefore we assumed that anthropogenic spread increases the habitat carrying capacity. Based on the urbanization increase rate of 3% in Korea from 1980 to 2000, we assumed an annual spread of 3% to simulate the population dynamics of the red-eared slider. In addition, the effect on the population of an increase of natural habitats due to migration was simulated.
Results: The close relationship between the distributions of non-native red-eared sliders and of urbanized areas demonstrates that urbanization plays an important role in providing new habitats for released individuals. Depending on the survivorship, the population of the red-eared slider in Korea increased 1.826 to 3.577 times between 1980 and 2000. To control population growth, it is necessary to reduce carrying capacity by reducing habitat expansion through prohibition of release into the wild ecosystem and careful managements of the wetland or artificial ponds. Changes in the habitat carrying capacity showed that the population fluctuated every other year. However, after several years, it converged to a consistent value which depended on the survivorship. Further, our results showed that if red-eared sliders expand their habitat by natural migration, their population can increase to a greater number than when they have a 99% survivorship in a fixed habitat.
Conclusions: Further introductions of red-eared sliders into wetlands or artificial ponds should be prohibited and managed to prevent future spread of the species. Moreover, it is important to reduce the species’ survivorship by restoring disturbed ecosystems and maintaining healthy ecosystems.

Keywords: carrying capacity, habitat, population dynamics, red-eared slider, survivorship

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Journal of Ecology and Environment

pISSN 2287-8327 eISSN 2288-1220