DoD Environmental Planning and Conservation Webinar
Building Capacity for Managing At-risk Species to Enable Mission Readiness on Military Installations: Spotted Turtle Status Assessment and Surveys
This DoD PARC project was funded by the DoD Legacy Resource Management Program.
Presented by Dr. Thomas S. Akre, Research Ecologist and Program Scientist, Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute
Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata) populations have declined across their range in the eastern United States, and this is particularly true in coastal areas where Department of Defense (DoD) installations represent an opportunity to conserve the species through effective monitoring and management of populations and their habitats. This webinar will describe Legacy Project #NR-20-002, which conducted a brief but thorough status assessment of Spotted Turtle populations on nine military sites, from Massachusetts to Georgia. Assessments were conducted using a standardized monitoring protocol that was developed for an ongoing conservation research effort supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and participating states from Maine to Florida. The project goal was to determine Spotted Turtle population distribution and abundance, and to evaluate habitat management opportunities on military sites. Expanding current knowledge of at-risk species, such as the Spotted Turtle, on installations enables natural resources personnel to improve Integrated Natural Resource Management Plans (INRMP), thereby promoting mission readiness through support of Spotted Turtle conservation and improved habitat management.