1. The natural habitat of the western swamp turtle (Pseudemydura umbrina Siebenrock, 1901) – the ephemeral, winter wet swamps north of Perth, Australia – is in danger owing to climate change and habitat fragmentation. The decline in rainfall in this area over the last five decades is predicted to continue, shortening the annual activity period for the turtles and potentially shifting their optimal climate zone to the south.
2. Assisted colonization to wetlands in the cooler far south west of the state is one management response. As a contribution to such a measure, the diversity and abundance of food resources and consumption by turtles were evaluated at two potential and one existing colonization site.
3. Thirty-five captive-bred juvenile P. umbrina were temporarily released into three sites: Moore River Nature Reserve north of Perth (into which the species had already been successfully translocated) and Meerup and East Augusta in the cooler far south of Western Australia.
4. Food resources were assessed using sweep nets to sample invertebrates on two occasions at each wetland. Separate samples were collected for biomass determination and for assessing invertebrate diversity. Feeding by turtles was assessed by stomach flushing.
5. Neither biomass nor biodiversity differed significantly between the southern sites and the reference site north of Perth. Stomach contents varied greatly, from 0 to 62 animals per turtle. The main prey items were beetles, ostracods, isopods and tadpoles.
6. Each candidate wetland provided adequate food resources, indicating that assisted colonization to the cooler south coast of Western Australia has the potential to become a reasonable conservation tool to ensure the long-term survival of P. umbrina.

中文翻译：

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评估候选湿地在气候变化中协助西部沼泽龟 Pseudemydura umbrina 定殖的候选湿地：大型无脊椎动物食物资源和龟饮食

1. 西部沼泽龟 ( Pseudemydura umbrina Siebenrock, 1901)的自然栖息地——澳大利亚珀斯北部短暂的冬季潮湿沼泽——由于气候变化和栖息地破碎化而处于危险之中。过去五年该地区的降雨量预计将继续下降，从而缩短海龟的年度活动期，并可能将其最佳气候带向南转移。
2. 协助在该州西南部较凉爽的湿地殖民是一种管理回应。作为对这一措施的贡献，在两个潜在的和一个现有的定居点评估了食物资源和海龟消费的多样性和丰富性。
3. 35 只人工繁殖的P. umbrina 幼鱼被暂时释放到三个地点：珀斯以北的摩尔河自然保护区（该物种已经成功转移到该保护区）以及位于西澳大利亚南部较凉爽的 Meerup 和东奥古斯塔。
4. 使用清扫网对每个湿地的无脊椎动物取样两次，评估了食物资源。收集单独的样品用于生物量测定和评估无脊椎动物多样性。通过胃冲洗来评估海龟的摄食情况。
5. 南部站点和珀斯北部参考站点之间的生物量和生物多样性均无显着差异。胃内容物差异很大，从每只乌龟 0 到 62 只动物。主要的猎物是甲虫、介形虫、等足类动物和蝌蚪。
6. 每个候选湿地都提供了充足的食物资源，表明协助殖民到西澳大利亚较凉爽的南海岸有可能成为确保P. umbrina长期生存的合理保护工具。