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A M E R I C A N T U R T L E O B S E R V A T O R Y
C O N S E R V AT I O N P L A N N I N G F O R S P O T T E D T U R T L E I N T H E E A S T E R N U . S . EASTERN SPOTTED TURTLE WORKING GROUP WWW.NORTHEASTTURTLES.ORG
ATO
S p o t t e d Tu r t l e W o r k i n g G r o u p P a r t n e r s
Additional Partners: North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission; South Carolina Department of Natural Resources; Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Natural Area Preserve System; The Natural Conservancy Virginia Chapter; Department of Defense PARC; USDA NRCS; USDA USFS George Washington and Jefferson National Forests
Liz Willey (ATO/AUNE), Mike Jones (MassWildlife), J.D. Kleopfer (VADGIF), Kathryn Lauer & Patrick Roberts (ATO), Lori Erb & Brandon Ruhe (MACHAC), Thomas Akre & Jessica Meck (SCBI), Derek Yorks & Phillip DeMaynadier (MEIFW), Melissa Doperalski & Josh Megyesy (NHFG), Glenn Johnson (SUNY Potsdam), Angelena Ross (NYSDEC), Peter Rosenbaum (SUNYOswego), Scott Smith (MDDNR), Brian Zarate (NJDFW), Nathan Nazdrowicz (DEDFW), Kevin Oxenrider (WVDNR), Donald Brown (WVU/USFS), Chris Jenkins & Houston Chandler (Orianne Society), Jonathan Mays (FFWCC), Scott Buchanan (RIDEM), Brian Hess & Mike Ravesi (CTDEEP) / Kathy Gipe & Chris Urban (PFBC), Lindsay Rohrbaugh (DDOE), Steve Parren (VT F&W), John Jensen (GADNR), Rodney Dyer (VCU), Eric Liebgold (Salisbury University), Julie Thomson, Laura Eaton & Anthony Tur (USFWS)
Northeastern/Eastern Regional Conservation Planning Initiatives for today’s focal species
Wood Turtle (10 years of regional coordination)
Blanding’s Turtle (15 years of regional coordination)
Spotted Turtle (4 years of regional
coordination)
Objective: Maintain populations of Spotted Turtles at or above their current levels throughout the region and achieve zero net loss of suitable habitat at high priority sites. Project I: QUANTIFY DISTRIBUTIONAL TRENDS AND BASELINES Project II: ASSESS POPULATION STATUS AT MULTIPLE SCALES (establish baselines & prioritize populations) Project III: MANAGE HABITAT AND POPULATIONS
Spotted Turtle Competitive State Wildlife Grant Hosted by Virginia DGIF, 2017
Objective: Maintain populations of Spotted Turtles at or above their current levels throughout the region and achieve zero net loss of suitable habitat at high priority sites. Project I: QUANTIFY DISTRIBUTIONAL TRENDS AND BASELINES Project II: ASSESS POPULATION STATUS AT MULTIPLE SCALES (establish baselines & prioritize populations) Project III: MANAGE HABITAT AND POPULATIONS
Spotted Turtle Competitive State Wildlife Grant Hosted by Virginia DGIF, 2017
Regional Conservation Needs Grant, 2018 Include additional states Assess region-wide genetic structure, identify distinct/diverse populations
Other local, state, and federal funds
S p o t t e d Tu r t l e R e g i o n a l P l a n n i n g A c t i o n s
Complete/underway - Develop sampl ing protocol - Undertake reg ion -wide sampl ing - Long- term s i te fo l low -up - S tate-spec i f i c efforts N ex t s te ps - Data an a lys i s - S tat us asse ssme nt - S i te p r ior i t i zat ion - C on se r vat ion p lan - Te c h n ica l ass i s tan c e & man agement ac t ion s
Wetland habitat We t l a n d h a b i ta t
Maine (top) and Florida (bottom) Photos: Trevor Persons, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (top); Jonathan Mays, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (bottom).
Wetland habitat Vernal Pools Shrub swamps Emergent marshes Forested wetlands Wet meadows & ditches Reservoirs
S ta n d a rd i ze d M o n i t o r i n g P ro t o c o l
www.northeastturtles.org
Two tiered, nested approach
Rapid Assessments Demographic Sites
Objectives
Evaluate distribution, abundance, trends at
the regional scale
Analysis Methods
Abundance estimation
using N-mixture
models (Royle 2004)
1) Quantify population size, structure, and trends at key sites
2) Inform rapid assessment results
Density estimation using spatially explicit
capture recapture (SECR)
VRA Visual surveys X 3 times
/ site
TRA 20 traps X 4 nights /
site
Field Methods
DA 20 traps X 4 nights X 3 events (i.e., 12 nights total; 3 X TRAs) / site
Nested design
S ta n d a rd i ze d M o n i t o r i n g P ro t o c o l
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
DC
DE FL GA
MA
MD
ME
NH
NY
PA RI
SC VA VT
WV
Sites trapped, 2018-2019
Re g i o n - w i d e M o n i t o r i n g – D R A F T R E S U LT S
155 sites sampled across the region
Re g i o n - w i d e M o n i t o r i n g - D R A F T R E S U LT S
>17,000 Trap nights, ~2000 spotted turtles in traps
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
DC
DE FL GA
MA
MD
ME
NH
NY
PA RI
SC VA VT
WV
Total TrapNights
Spotted Turtlesin Traps
Re g i o n - w i d e M o n i t o r i n g - D R A F T R E S U LT S
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
DC
DE FL GA
MA
MD
ME
NH
NY
PA RI
SC VA VT
WV
Total spotted turtle captures 2018-2019
>2500 observations of >1500 spotted turtles across the region
Re g i o n - w i d e M o n i t o r i n g - D R A F T R E S U LT S
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
DC
DE FL GA
MA
MD
ME
NH
NY
PA RI
SC VA VT
WV
Spotted turtles / trap night
Regional average: 0.116 Spotted Turtles / TN
Re g i o n - w i d e M o n i t o r i n g - D R A F T R E S U LT S
Regional average: 0.116 Spotted Turtles / TN
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
DE FL GA
MA
MD
ME
NY
PA
VA VT
WV
Ave
rage
Sp
ott
ed T
urt
les/
TN
Spotted turtles / trap night at 2 most successful DA sites/state
Region-wide population estimates, 2018
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
DE-
AS
DE-
WR
FL-P
U-P
B
GA
-LI-
CC
MA
-FR
-SP
MA
-HA
-LS
MA
-HA
-LS2
MA
-PL-
BP
S
VA
-MF
VA
-MI
WV
-AM
WV
-ER
Ave
rage
a ca
ptu
re r
ate
Average capture rate
-300
-200
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Pop
ula
tio
n e
stim
ates
Population estimates
Re g i o n - w i d e M o n i t o r i n g - D R A F T R E S U LT S
Unique Turtles Captured # of sites % of sites 0 59 0.37 1 23 0.14 2-5 18 0.11 6-10 11 0.07 11-20 22 0.14 21-50 21 0.13 51+ 5 0.03
Re g i o n - w i d e M o n i t o r i n g - D R A F T R E S U LT S
Re g i o n - w i d e M o n i t o r i n g - D R A F T R E S U LT S
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
CLGU CHPI CHSE KISU KIBA STOD EMBL
All Turtle Species Captured, 2019
Trap success by season and days in the water
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0 5 10 15
Pro
po
rtio
n o
f Tu
rtle
s ca
ptu
red
# of days trap has been in the water
Re g i o n - w i d e M o n i t o r i n g - D R A F T R E S U LT S
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
40 90 140 190 240
Pro
po
rtio
n o
f Tu
rtle
s ca
ptu
red
Day of the Year
Feb. 2 April 1 May 20 July 8 Aug 27
Seasonal trap success, by region
Re g i o n - w i d e M o n i t o r i n g - D R A F T R E S U LT S
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0 50 100 150 200 250
Pro
po
rtio
n o
f tu
rtle
s ca
ptu
red
Day of Year
ME, MA, VT, NY
FL,GA
MD, DE, VA, WV
Jan 1 Feb 19 April 9 May 29 July 18 Sept 6
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
2/13 4/4 5/24 7/13 9/1
Turt
les/
trap
NH
DE
FL
GA
MA
MD
ME
PA
VA
WV
Spotted turtles/trap throughout the season, 2018
Re g i o n - w i d e M o n i t o r i n g - D R A F T R E S U LT S
Trap success by temperature
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0 10 20 30
Pro
po
rtio
n o
f Tu
rtle
s ca
ptu
red
Air temperature (C)
Re g i o n - w i d e M o n i t o r i n g - D R A F T R E S U LT S
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0 10 20 30 40
Pro
pro
tio
n o
f tu
rtle
s ca
ptu
red
Water Temperature (C)
Trap Success and Air Temperature, by Region
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Pro
po
rtio
n o
f tu
rtle
s ca
ptu
red
AirTemperature (C)
ME, MA, VT, NY
FL,GA
MD, DE, VA, WV
Re g i o n - w i d e M o n i t o r i n g - D R A F T R E S U LT S
– Evidence of some relatively robust populations throughout the eastern US, but they may be relatively rare on the landscape
– Tracking effort and negative results are important
– Spatial and temporal variability (within and across sites) in: • Detection • Abundance • Demographics
– Flexibility and adaptation – Local needs and goals
M o n i t o r i n g C o n c l u s i o n s
S p o t t e d Tu r t l e R e g i o n a l P l a n n i n g A c t i o n s
C omp lete/u n d er way - Deve lop samp l in g p rotoco l - Un d e r take re g ion - wid e samp l in g - L on g - term s i te fo l low - u p - S tate - spe c i f i c e f for ts Next s teps - Data ana lys i s - S tatus assessment - S i te Pr ior i t i zat ion - Conser vat ion p lan - Technica l ass i stance & management act ions
N ex t s t e p s
A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s
Additional Partners: North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission; South Carolina Department of Natural Resources; Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Natural Area Preserve System; The Natural Conservancy Virginia Chapter; Department of Defense PARC; USDA NRCS; USDA USFS George Washington and Jefferson National Forests
Liz Willey (ATO/AUNE), Mike Jones (MassWildlife), J.D. Kleopfer (VADGIF), Kathryn Lauer & Patrick Roberts (ATO), Lori Erb & Brandon Ruhe (MACHAC), Thomas Akre & Jessica Meck (SCBI), Derek Yorks & Phillip DeMaynadier (MEIFW), Melissa Doperalski & Josh Megyesy (NHFG), Glenn Johnson (SUNY Potsdam), Angelena Ross (NYSDEC), Peter Rosenbaum (SUNYOswego), Scott Smith (MDDNR), Brian Zarate (NJDFW), Nathan Nazdrowicz (DEDFW), Kevin Oxenrider (WVDNR), Donald Brown (WVU/USFS), Chris Jenkins & Houston Chandler (Orianne Society), Jonathan Mays (FFWCC), Scott Buchanan (RIDEM), Brian Hess & Mike Ravesi (CTDEEP) / Kathy Gipe & Chris Urban (PFBC), Lindsay Rohrbaugh (DDOE), Steve Parren (VT F&W), John Jensen (GADNR), Rodney Dyer (VCU), Eric Liebgold (Salisbury University), Julie Thomson, Laura Eaton & Anthony Tur (USFWS)
