Mountain bogs are important for a variety of reasons. In addition to the bog turtle, bogs provide homes for four endangered species, including green pitcher plants, mountain sweet pitcher plants , swamp pink, and bunched arrowhead. Migratory birds such as woodcock, grouse, turkey and wood duck stop in for a visit. They are also valuable breeding habitat for amphibians, particularly for salamanders.
The Southern Appalachians are a hotspot for salamanders unequaled anywhere else in the country. There are also benefits to people. Bogs regulate water flow. When it floods, they will soak up water, which is gradually released to streams.
Bog turtles are also threatened by diminished water quality, mortality on roadways, growing populations of predators like raccoons and by reptile collectors who consider this rare turtle a valuable prize. In Pennsylvania, small, spring-fed streams trickle down South Mountain towards the sandstone valley below.
In some areas, the water collects to form soft, muddy wet meadows, surrounded by clumps of grassy tussock sedges and other low-lying vegetation. This creates ideal habitat for bog turtles.
In , The Nature Conservancy acquired land near South Mountain in order to maintain, and restore habitat required by these turtles that are no larger the palm of a human hand. Over the years, this work has included managing burns, cutting trees and introducing cattle and goat grazing in order to foster the growth of native vegetation and maintain the soft mucky soils that the turtles prefer.
TNC also conducted a radio telemetry study in Pennsylvania that documented bog turtle locations, hibernation, travel patterns and habitat use within the preserve. Studies have revealed the existence of a year-old bog turtle, the oldest documented bog turtle known in the wild. Many mountain bogs that used to be home to bog turtles in the southern population have been lost to development. There, Warwick leads the charge to restore mountain bog habitat for the turtle.
Beavers also once helped to create that habitat in the Southern Blue Ridge, but with their populations also in decline, TNC strives to maintain an open, grassy landscape with clear cutting. Electric fencing and caging at bog turtle sites to protect them from predators and people are techniques known techniques to enhance nesting success.
Every April to November, TNC staff, interns, volunteers and others, radio track and search for turtles to help fill out the existing population data. TNC in Massachusetts has been involved with monitoring the species since the s, building a record of the number of turtles of certain ages, population growth and health, and turtle locations. There are estimated to be less than 40 adult turtles at each of two sites TNC owns and manages in the area.
Protecting bog turtles is key to sustaining the many other species found in these wetland ecosystems. In the summer of , 53 turtles were spotted through a combination of tracking those with transmitters and searching for them in the underbrush of the wetland.
The number included both old and new individuals. Eight of the turtles that turned up have been around since the studies began in the s, making them over 40 years old. In addition to these long-timers, another eight of the turtles found had never been seen before. These observations indicate that older turtles are still around and that the population is reproducing and those young turtles are growing into adults. Private landowners own the majority of remaining bog turtle habitat; good livestock grazing management has helped to conserve bog turtle habitat, demonstrating the important role that agriculture can play in conservation.
Through Working Lands for Wildlife, NRCS can provide financial assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program EQIP to assist private landowners combat habitat fragmentation and degradation to restore bog turtle populations in seven states, and increase landowner confidence that the conservation practices they volunteer to implement will not harm the species or its habitat.
Because of the lack of a current farm bill, funding for new conservation easements or habitat restoration projects is not available through the Wetland Reserve Program. Funding for habitat restoration or improvement is available through the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program.
The following documents require Adobe Acrobat Reader. Natural Resources Conservation Service Pennsylvania.
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