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Tiny Size, Huge Environmental Impact

The Bog Turtle may seem like it wouldn’t have a huge impact on the ecosystem around it, especially because of its tiny size, but that is far from the truth. Even though it is the smallest turtle native to the US, it has an impact that far exceeds its size (Bittel, 2018). Bog Turtles are a “flagship species” for the ephemeral wetland types, like fens, bogs, wet meadows, sedge marshes, and alder, tamarack, or spruce swamps (Harding, 2014). 

 Bog Turtles are also a flagship species for wetland conservation movements. Being a flagship species means that the Bog Turtle acts as an ambassador for its ecosystem, and is the symbol for conservation efforts that will help the greater habitat, and benefit other species in the area (WWF, 2019). These wetlands provide clean oxygenated water that is essential for all organisms in the ecosystem, including us! The Bog Turtle represents a rare, but biologically diverse, fragile, and endangered habitat that needs protecting. The ecosystems that the Bog Turtle lives in and represents are biodiversity hotspots, containing up to 150 plant species, and at grave risk of biodiversity loss (Harding, 2014). Seeing as plants aren’t usually the most charismatic of species, the adorable Bog Turtle is crucial to motivating people to save them. So if we lost the Bog Turtle, we will lose the plants that they represent, and in turn, lose the entire foundation of an ecosystem. 

 

Some plants and fungi that the Bog Turtle protect are: 

  • Rushes

  • Tussock sedge

  • Cranberries

  • Tawny cotton grass

  • Eyelash fungus (Molly eye winker)

  • Swamp beacons (matchstick fungus)

  • Northern pitcher plants

  • Round-leaved sundew

  • Pogonia orchids

  • Cattails

  • Jewelweed

  • Sphagnum

  • Native True grasses 

  • Willows

  • Red maples

  • Alders.

What Role Does the Bog Turtle Play?

Bog Turtles are one of the most important species found in the swamp ecosystem; and one of the things that makes them so valuable is their insatiable appetite. Bog Turtles are omnivorous and consume a large number of parasites and insects which keeps those populations from getting out of control. If the Bog Turtle were to go extinct, the population of these insects and parasites would grow and take over other ecosystems and habitats spreading diseases to both humans and animals alike. Not only that but the animals like the fox and raccoon that rely on the Bog Turtle as a source of food would go extinct too due to a lack of sustenance.  As human beings, it should be our priority and duty to preserve and protect the world around us, as not to disrupt the natural balance of the earth.

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If the Bog Turtle were to go extinct then conservation efforts for their habitat would lose momentum because there wouldn’t be a representative for it. The extinction of this species would be a catastrophic loss to its ecosystem and the world as a whole. Not only that, but America would lose its very cutest turtle. 

Image by eric combeau

As Mufasa says in the Lion King, 

"When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life." 

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