Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, Vol. 95, No. 1, 2021 Copyright © 2022 The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA Accepted for publication November 2021 DOI: 10.5325/jpennacadscie.95.1.0028 abbi s. brown Albright College | abbi.brown001@albright.edu stephen g. mech Albright College | smech@albright.edu james m. drasher Aqua-Terra Environmental | jdrasher@aqua-terraenv.com Abstract: The Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) is a vulnerable species with decreas- ing population density from anthropogenic development and habitat loss. To determine the im- pact of electric utility pole replacement and vegetation maintenance on the home range size and habitat preference of T. carolina carolina, we radio-tagged 13 box turtles and located them weekly from April to November 2019, recording several habitat measurements at each location. We per- formed a principal component analysis of vegetation data and estimated home range size using 95% minimum convex polygon (MCP), kernel, and Brownian-bridge methods. Our data indicate that turtles prefer shrub cover and avoid rocky areas. While there was no signifcant diference between male and female home range size, a post hoc analysis dividing females into right-of- way (ROW) and non-ROW groups revealed a signifcant diference in female home range size, which may result from accessibility of higher-quality nesting sites within the ROW compared with surrounding forest stands. Keywords: Eastern box turtle, habitat disturbance, home range size, habitat preference INTRODUCTION The woodland box turtle, also commonly referred to as the Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina), is a terrestrial turtle species that inhabits a variety of predominantly forested landscapes throughout the eastern and midwestern Efects of anthropogenic habitat disturbance on the home range size and habitat preference of the Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) Downloaded from http://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/pa-academy-of-science/article-pdf/95/1/28/1487006/jpennacadscie.95.1.0028.pdf by guest on 05 March 2022