The Southeastern Bog Turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii) is a critically endangered species found in the Appalachian region of the Southeastern United States, from Virginia to Georgia. Habitat fragmentation as well as poaching has contributed to the fast decline of Bog turtle populations. This has created a need for thorough studies of populations in order to further conservation efforts. Because of the Bog Turtles crepuscular activity as well as distinct habitat structure, understanding the thermal data surrounding turtle encounters would prove to be beneficial when conducting studies on population sizes, mating activities and nesting habits. Due to low population sizes, locating turtles is a time-consuming procedure. Bog Turtles usually preside in areas of open canopy which allows sunlight to penetrate through and aid them in thermoregulation as they bask. Habitats can range from bogs to cow pastures as bog turtles are commonly found in nutrient-rich, mucky soil. Accessing areas where turtles are found is difficult as they are usually remotely located and often found on private land. Locating turtles during peak probing times would improve the efficiency of studies and aid in the construction of population size databases. Turtle activity data was collected from April -July 2017 in the North Carolina Appalachian Mountains. Four sites were surveyed (labeled A, B ,C, and D for site protection).
Results/Conclusions
In the four sites surveyed, a total of 138 turtles were encountered. Preliminary results show that the site of highest number of encounters was site A, (an open cow pasture with high muck density) with 62 turtles found. The site with the lowest number of individual encounters was site D (an area of mostly dry vegetation with mucky areas surrounded by skunk cabbage), with 17 encounters total. Some turtles were found multiple times throughout the study. Turtles were mostly found inactive and either entirely or partially submerged during the times of highest recorded temperature. In sites A and B the 10am-1pm timeframe exhibited peak encounters. Peak encounters at site C occurred during the 10am and 2pm timeframe. Site D resulted in no peak encounter times. The data gathered during this study will allow us to adopt more efficient probing practices in order to further develop datasets on bog turtle population sizes in the future.