Article Review: Habitat Effects on Bog Turtles (Glyptemys muhlenbergii)

Link of article: http://nuncio.cofc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=100240715&site=eds-live&scope=site

Source: http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Glyptemys+muhlenbergii

     This delicate and extremely adorable turtle above also known as the Bog turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii) belongs in the family Emydidae and is unfortunately on the federal and South Carolina list of threatened species.  As I was going down the list of species to research an article on, I chose the Bog turtle particularly to find information on how to help this species, and what conservation efforts must be made to do so. The article I stumbled upon, "Effects of Habitat Alterations on Bog Turtles (Glyptemys muhlenbergii): A Comparison of Two Populations" in the Journal of Herpetology, is one of the few articles that discusses how vulnerable this species is and how it's habitat plays a major role in its survival. Authors Sirois, Gibbs, Whitlock, and Erb investigated populations of Bog turtles in two different sites in Massachusetts from  1994 to 2009. 

     The authors knew that Bog turtles are particularly threatened due to habitat loss, fragmentation, degradation, and illegal collection for the pet trade however, they wanted to know how to reduce these events and restore their habitat. The two sites they collected their data from each had different environments and habitats to compare which one was more suitable. In site 1, they removed nonnative invasive species and woody plants and in site 2, there was a substantial number of beavers, wildfires, and nonnative invasive species. Overtime, they were able to measure the habitat changes between the two sites and categorized them as highly suitable, suitable, low suitability, or unsuitable. They found that site 1 had stable survival rates and the habitat was highly suitable. Site 2 showed that there was a decline in population size, with lowest being in 2009, and the habitat was unsuitable. They suggested that vegetation and hydrology play a major role in the survival of these turtles. One major influence on increasing population size includes maintaining water sources as changes quality, level and timing have a direct effect on these turtles. 

     Although not many articles look into the changes that can be made to increase the Bog turtle population, this article does so and informs us that conservation efforts need to made in order to save this species. The article addresses the reasons why the population size has reduced substantially and potential ways to increase the numbers. They found that there was a correlation with hydrology and population size. If these turtles do not get the correct amount of water from a proper water source, their population size can be highly impacted. They also discussed that nonnative invasive species cause major disruptions in their habitat and population size. In order to combat these effects, they suggested that site managers could minimize turtle mortality by adjusting the environment to their needs and keep track of invasive species, possible disease, and predation. 

     This article  helped me understand how to increase the population size of the Bog turtle and it is very informative in that it lets you its habitat preferences. One main problem I found in the experiment was the vast difference between sites. Site 1 lacked invasive species, which of course led to increased population size. Site 2 on the other hand was completely opposite and had invasive species, predators, habitat degradation, etc. that reduced the population size. I felt that they needed some sort of control, or a site that was somewhere in the middle. I felt that the outcome was predictable by establishing such a huge difference between the sites and there should have been a site that had a reasonable population size but also had some invasive species and predators. This would have led to better results to compare with and give us more concise results. Nevertheless, this article did tackle a few unanswered questions and really supported the conservation of these turtles, which is particularly valuable for knowledge and further efforts to increase their population. 

Citation:

Sirois, Angela Marie, et al. "Effects Of Habitat Alterations On Bog Turtles ( Glyptemys Muhlenbergii): A Comparison Of Two Populations." Journal Of Herpetology 48.4 (2014): 455-460. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.