SREL Reprint #2261

Imperiled aquatic reptiles of the southeastern United States: historical review and current conservation status

Kurt A. Buhlmann and J. Whitfield Gibbons

Summary: Turtles are declining in both number of species and total numbers at alarming rates throughout the world (Ernst and Barbour, 1989). Worldwide, losses have been attributed to causes that include the collecting of eggs, juveniles, and adults for the pet trade and human food consumption. Long-lived species with delayed sexual maturity and low reproductive rates cannot sustain continued high levels of harvest and maintain stable populations. Destruction and deterioration of natural habitats has led to reduced population sizes and to the fragmentation and isolation of remaining populations. For reptiles, the ever-increasing web of roads that spans the landscape serves to increase the probability of mortality for individuals of many species, leading to eventual local population reductions or extinctions.
We found that 35.5 percent of our list of imperiled aquatic reptiles are threatened because of the continuing, cumulative abuse sustained by river systems. Another 37.1 percent are declining due to loss of Coastal Plain wetland habitats, 1.6 percent due to loss of mountain wetlands, 13.0 percent due to losses of brackish and salt marshes, and 3.2 percent due to loss of prairie wetlands.
If we are serious about protecting biodiversiry and halting wildlife population declines in the Southeast, several intellectually simple, yet politically difficult changes must be made. First, the destruction and alteration of remaining wetlands must cease. The idea that landowners have the right to do whatever they wish to the natural resources on their land needs to be re-thought and openly addressed. Secondly, river environments must be restored and protected. Our river-dwelling reptile fauna is the most immediately imperiled reptile group. The cumulative effects of industrial wastes, pesticides, herbicides, oil runoff, inappropriate and careless farming practices, and other environmental insults could ultimately relegate the rivers to little more than shipping canals. The cumulative effects of this abuse have resulted not only in declines of aquatic fauna but also present a real threat to human health as well. Downstream of almost every effluent discharge point is a drinking water intake. If people truly understood the dangers they face from the current treatment of our rivers, major changes could be made. Lastly, and possibly most important, human population growth must be controlled. The human population cannot keep growing exponentially (Meffe et al., 1993). People require space and resources that displace wildlife. The population problem is a concern that most choose to ignore, but it is the rooted cause of most, if not all, of our environmental problems.

SREL Reprint #2261

Buhlmann, K.A. and J.W. Gibbons. 1997. Imperiled aquatic reptiles of the southeastern United States: historical review and current conservation status. pp. 201-232. In: Benz, G.W. and D.E. Collins (Eds.). Aquatic Fauna in Peril: The Southeastern Perspective. Southeast Aquatic Research Institute, Lenz Design & Communications, Decatur, GA.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).