BOG TURTLE
THE SMALLEST U.S NATIVE FRESHWATER TURTLE
What Do Bog Turtles Call Home?
The Bog Turtle lives in open emergent shrub/scrub wetlands, like shallow spring-fed fens, sphagnum bogs, swamps, marshy meadows, and wet pastures, and relies on these areas to be unpolluted (US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2019).
Bog Turtles need very specific conditions in their habitats, including having a high water table yearround and being slightly acidic, with anaerobic conditions due to lack of oxygen. The turtles also need spring seepage, full sunlight (so the turtles can warm themselves) mossy, grassy or sedge cover, and mucky bottomed waters that they can dive into for cover. These ecosystems should have both dry and wet spots, as well as shallow, slow-moving water with a high evaporation rate (Chattahoochee Nature Center, 2019). These may just sound like a bunch of boring scientific facts that you will never again need to know, but in learning to love the bog turtle, it is important to understand what they love and rely upon.
Their Home, Not Ours!
Habitat succession, habitat destruction, and fragmentation are the real forces that are driving the Bog Turtle towards extinction. People are attracted to the Bog Turtles habitat (wetlands), because due to its flatness, it can easily be developed into cropland, roads, or buildings. Wetlands have been changed by development, ditched, poisoned, and surrounded by roads and houses for centuries, so only a tiny fraction of the poor Bog Turtles' wetlands exist today. In fact, the Southeastern United States has lost almost all of its wetlands: 70-90% since 1950! (Walton, 2006). This is a major contributor to why the Bog Turtles are in grave danger. Due to the human need for wetlands, Bog Turtles are being tragically forced to find new homes, often forced to leave their nests behind. This species is struggling with their biotic potential because females lay only around three eggs per one clutch every year. So, because these small species are leaving their nests and because they have a low reproductive rate, they are unable to reproduce as quickly as is necessary.
Why’d the Little Turtle Cross the Road? It Couldn’t
Another major threat that humans have posed to these turtles is through the development
of roads or habitat fragmentation. In the past, as Bog Turtles’ habitat changed in the process
of natural succession, the turtles were able to migrate to higher elevations to follow the
conditions that they needed, but now, human development threatens that. Things like farms,
roads, and other development are insurmountable obstacles to these tiny reptiles, which
prevent them from migration. Turtles run a high risk of being hit by cars or caught by eager
children when they are forced to venture into
human-populated areas (Harding, 2004).
