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	Turtle Conservation

Turtle Conservation

Turtles have evolved a strategy for survival that depends on large, unfragmented areas of natural habitat. All of New Hampshire's native turtle species require wetland and aquatic habitats, but they also require extensive upland habitats for nesting and traveling among different wetlands and water bodies. Even the most aquatic species, such as snapping, painted, and musk turtles, need upland nesting sites, places to bask in the sun, and travel routes for finding new places to live.

Turtle populations are increasingly at risk. Some species, like painted and snapping turtles, are common and widespread, but other turtle species have more specific habitat needs and are uncommon to rare. The species of greatest concern in New Hampshire are Blanding's, spotted, and wood turtles. Although Eastern box turtles are occasionally found in New Hampshire, they are believed to be released by people who have collected them out of state. No strong evidence has been found to indicate that box turtles occur naturally in New Hampshire.

The goal of turtle conservation is to increase survival by reducing the risks created by people. The most effective approach to protecting turtle populations is to identify and protect large areas of relatively undisturbed lands that provide suitable habitat for turtles. Where turtles do occur in more developed areas, it is essential to reduce the risks they encounter by increasing people's awareness and understanding of turtle needs.

Threats

As critical habitats become destroyed or degraded, turtle populations eventually decline. Adult turtles have less success finding mates during the breeding season, and females may have increasing difficulty finding safe nesting areas. High numbers of predators associated with human development can have a devastating impact on nest success and hatchling survival.

Turtles in New Hampshire and other northern states take longer to grow because of their need to hibernate in the winter. Some turtles may take up to 20 years to reach reproductive age. Once they are mature, they may reproduce for several years, but only a small fraction of turtle eggs survives to hatch and grow to adulthood.

Local populations can disappear completely over a relatively short period of time, as fewer young turtles survive to replace older individuals, and the number of breeding adults decreases. Over a large region, the decline and disappearance of small, local populations greatly reduces the security of the population as a whole, because remaining small, isolated groups of turtles are extremely vulnerable to the effects of habitat loss and degradation.

As turtle habitats disappear or become smaller and more scattered, individuals must travel greater distances among wintering, feeding, and nesting sites. Turtles journeying across the landscape are frequently killed on roads. Researchers in Maine found that female turtles may travel up to a half mile to lay their eggs and commonly return to the same nesting site year after year. In areas where female turtles must cross roads to get to nesting sites, road mortality can be especially high during the June nesting season. Turtles traveling through developed areas also face many obstacles, such as fences, walls, buildings, and large, open areas with no protective cover.

Many predators eat turtle eggs and young, digging up nests or devouring tiny hatchlings as they emerge from the nest to begin their journey to the water. Raccoons, skunks, foxes, and crows are adept at finding and digging up turtle eggs. Domestic dogs and cats are also very effective nest predators, adding to the destruction caused by natural predators. Once out of the nest, young turtles face many of these same predators, becoming slowly less vulnerable as they increase in size. However, even adult turtles suffer attacks from predators and may lose all or part of a leg. Smaller, more isolated patches of natural habitat are more accessible to predators, which typically hunt along habitat edges. Turtles travelling between these remaining patches are more vulnerable, because roads, parking lots, and lawns offer little cover from predators or humans.

During the past few decades, spotted, Blanding's, and wood turtles have been collected from the wild to be sold as pets. As turtle populations become smaller and more isolated, the danger of each population being wiped out by a collector increases. The state now has rules to protect Blanding's, Eastern box, spotted, and wood turtles from collection and sale.

Protection Strategies

Landscape Protection for Towns and Communities

Community efforts to protect Blanding's, spotted, and wood turtles in New Hampshire should focus on finding relatively pristine areas that provide good quality habitat for these species and protecting them so that these turtles can continue to survive there. In developed areas, which have increased risks for turtles, protection efforts should aim to reduce those risks by raising people's awareness and protecting remaining habitats and connection corridors. Things Your Community Can Do Identify and protect core areas of prime turtle habitat - those remaining large, undeveloped tracts of land that include wetlands and vernal pools. Connect these areas to other undeveloped tracts of land and wetlands. Avoid wetland fragmentation. Do not isolate wetlands by surrounding them with development. Maintain connections to other wetlands and maintain passage corridors for turtle travel between wetland habitats. Maintain passage corridors between wetlands and nesting areas. Maintain roadless areas, especially in association with wetland complexes. Avoid upgrading or adding road systems that will bisect wetland complexes. If a road is being built over a wetland or stream, build a bridge instead of installing a culvert. Maintain undeveloped buffers of at least 300 feet around streams and wetlands. Provide natural buffers around stream and river systems where they connect wetland complexes. Maintain undisturbed passage areas between wetlands and nearby vernal pools. Protect associated vernal pools and surrounding habitat for vernal pool breeders. These pools provide important feeding areas for turtles. See the Vernal Pools information sheet in this series and the publication, Identification and Documentation of Vernal Pools in New Hampshire, for more information. Protect sandy nesting areas from recreational use (walking, biking, etc.). Look for opportunities to leave unvegetated areas during reclamation of gravel and borrow pits. Encourage a public education campaign. Support and publicize turtle collection regulations. Educate community members about the importance of leaving turtles in the wild and the legal protection provided to them by state law. Promote measures, such as proper storage and disposal of garbage, to keep populations of turtle predators, such as raccoons and skunks, in check. Establish and enforce leash laws for dogs and keep cats inside to avoid predation. Specifically for Wood Turtles Protect wood turtle streams and their associated uplands. Wood turtles are wide ranging and use surrounding upland habitats. Maintain undeveloped woodlands and fields, especially along rivers and streams. Maintain clarity of streams by controlling erosion and other conditions that increase turbidity.

Produced by the Audubon Society of New Hampshire and the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department under a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For more information on protecting turtle species, contact the Audubon Society of New Hampshire at (603)224-9909 or wildlife@nhaudubon.org or the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game's Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program at (603)271-2461. To report observations of reptiles and amphibians in New Hampshire, contact the Nongame Program.

Other information sheets in this series:

• Vernal Pools
• Spotted Turtle
• Blanding's Turtle
• Wood Turtle