SREL Reprint #1963
Habitat use, terrestrial movements, and conservation of the turtle, Deirochelys reticularia in Virginia
Kurt A. Buhlmann
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, 1500 E. Main Street,
Suite 312, Richmond, Virginia 23219, USA
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802, USA
Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
Abstract: Only one isolated population of the chicken turtle (Deirochelys reticularia) is known to occur in Virginia. Data collected from 1989 to 1992 by mark-recapture and radio-telemetry studies indicated that the population is small, with possibly fewer than ten adults remaining. Virginia chicken turtles inhabit interdunal swales that have seasonal water fluctuations. Results of radio-telemetry studies revealed that some chicken turtles will leave drying wetlands and aestivate on land during the summer months. All radio-tagged turtles hibernated terrestrially. Although the population exists within a state park and natural area, only one-fifth of the original habitat is protected, whereas the remaining portion was destroyed by development outside the park boundaries. A conservation management plan should include protection for the interdunal ponds and significant terrestrial use areas, protection for the turtles from highway mortality, and incorporation of hydrologic data and historic habitat availability.
SREL Reprint #1963
Buhlmann, K.A. 1995. Habitat use, terrestrial movements, and conservation of the turtle, Deirochelys reticularia in Virginia. Journal of Herpetology 29:173-181.
This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).