Conservation Status of Blanding’s Turtles in the Lake Erie Watershed

Presentation by Matt Cross Conservation Department - The Toledo Zoo and Aquarium matt.cross@toledozoo.org Kent Bekker – The Toledo Zoo and Aquarium, Greg Lipps – OSU, Yu Man Lee – Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Mark Jordan – Purdue University, Bruce Kingsbury – Purdue University, Dan Guinto – Purdue University, Dan Earl – Purdue University, Amy Derosier – Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Kate Parsons – ODNR Division of Wildlife. Blanding’s Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) have experienced precipitous declines, are of conservation concern throughout their remaining range, and are under consideration for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Recently, Ohio and Michigan collaborated to assess the distribution and status of Blanding’s Turtles using a combination of multi-technique field surveys, genetic analyses, and spatially explicit models. We will present our results from the first season of implementing a coordinated monitoring strategy, which resulted in 12,209 trap nights and capture of 321 Blanding’s Turtles, 878 Snapping Turtles, and 2,653 Painted Turtles. Additionally, we will discuss preliminary findings from our modeling efforts, genetic analyses, and conservation planning, including habitat restoration and a head-starting program.