SREL Reprint #3257

Long-Term Ecological Research on America's Only Estuarine Turtle: The Diamondback Terrapin

Michael E. Dorcas1 and J. Whitfield Gibbons2

1Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina, US
2University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, US

Abstract: Diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) are one of the most unique reptiles in the world. Not only are they beautiful, but they are the only reptile to live exclusively in estuarine habitats. Unfortunately, as a result of many factors, their numbers appear to be declining throughout their range. In this chapter, we describe the longest, on-going study of terrapins in the world and some of the major findings of this study. We provide detailed explanations of the basic methods we use to study terrapins. We demonstrate the importance of long-term projects for the study of long-lived animals and we describe the importance of the study to us, our colleagues, and our students.

Keywords: turtles, terrapins, Malaclemys, ecology, conservation, research methods, estuarine, radiotelemetry

SREL Reprint #3257

Dorcas, M. E. and J. W. Gibbons. 2013. Long-Term Ecological Research on America's Only Estuarine Turtle: The Diamondback Terrapin. pp. 447-461 In: W. I. Lutterschmidt (Ed.) Reptiles in Research: Investigations of Ecology, Physiology, and Behavior From Desert to Sea. Nova Biomedical: New York.

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