A. Joseph Jenkins
Alabama Natural Heritage Program Auburn University Small, highly aquatic turtle Endemic to the Upper Black Warrior River Drainage Occur in rivers with abundant rock and crevice cover that contain aquatic molluscs
Guyer et al., 2015 Entirely aquatic Endemic to the Upper Black Warrior River drainage Occur in similar habitat as S. depressus
Guyer et al., 2015
Similar threats to survival as S. depressus May be more susceptible to water quality issues Cryptic Understudied
Durflinger, Guyer, and Bailey (1990s) Detected at 13 of 112 sites Godwin and Jenkins (2010-2016) Detected at 4 of 23 sites in Bankhead NF eDNA
Occur in low densities outside of Sipsey Fork Highly fragmented across range Recently listed as Endangered under ESA
Mount (1981): ~50 sites Ernst, Cox, and Marion (1983): 68 sites Dodd, Enge, and Stuart (1985): 10 sites Diagnosis: Mount (1981): Bad Ernst, Cox, and Marion (1989): Not Good Dodd, Enge, and Stuart (1988): Very Bad
S. depressus declining range-wide Absent from large proportion of sites Many remaining populations in impacted areas are skewed towards larger individuals and show few signs of recruitment
Federally listed as Threatened under ESA in 1987 Reviewed previous surveys (Dodd et al., 1988; Ernst et al., 1989; Mount, 1981) Findings: Estimated that S. depressus was extirpated from 56% of historic range 37% of historic range contains degraded habitat and/or dwindling populations (unlikely to persist) Only 7% of historic range includes relatively pristine habitat with sustaining populations = sites with turtles = sites surveyed with no detections M = data from Mount (1981) E = data from Ernst et al. (1989) D = data from Dodd et al. (1988) Locust Fork - Mount, Marion, and Cox (1991) Sipsey Fork, Blackwater Creek, and Lost Creek - Bailey and Guyer (1994-1995): 6 sites
Turtles at impacted sites skewed towards larger individuals Continued declines Bailey and Guyer (1998) Range-wide - Scott and Rissler (2011-2012): 54 sites Bankhead NF - Jenkins and Godwin (2013-2017): 25 sites eDNA - Godwin (2012-2014)
Sipsey Fork and Brushy Creek populations in BNF appear to have stabilized Outside BNF, still declining
Detections at only 32% of 54 sites despite sites being chosen from present or assumed to be present sites from Mount (1981) and Ernst et al. (1989) Occupancy modeling estimated that 56% of historic sites sampled from Mount (1981) and Ernst et al. (1989) had gone extinct
Survey to fill the gaps in our knowledge Locust Fork for S. depressus – Jenkins, 2018 Resample Durflinger et al. (2006) sites for N. alabamensis… or not Expand eDNA efforts (Locust Fork, Mulberry Fork, Blackwater Creek) Survey areas with high proportions of positive eDNA samples Identify areas with habitat structure that is conducive to supporting S. depressus – Side Scan Sonar Mapping Focus conservation efforts in the Locust Fork SHU, in areas where Populations still occur Habitat structure is decent Other species of concern can benefit Jim Godwin Dave Steen Craig Guyer
Mark Bailey Karan Bailey Peter Scott
Bailey, K. A., & Guyer, C. (1998). Demography and population status of the flattened musk turtle, Sternotherus depressus, in the Black Warrior River Basin of Alabama. Chelonian Conservation and Biology, 3(1), 77–83. de Souza, L. S., Godwin, J. C., Renshaw, M. A., and Larson, E. 2016. Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection probability is influenced by seasonal activity of organisms. PLoS ONE 11(10): https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165273 Dodd, C.K., Jr., Engie, K.M. and Stuart, J.N. 1988. Aspects of the biology of the flattened musk turtle (Sternotherus depressus) in northern Alabama. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences 34:1-64. Dodd, C.K., Jr. 1990. Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on a Stream-dwelling Species, the Flattened Musk Turtle Sternotherus depressus. Biological Conservation 54:33-45. Durflinger, M.C., Guyer, C., and Bailey, M.A. 2006. Distribution and population biology of the Black Warrior Waterdog, Necturus alabamensis. Southeastern Naturalist, 5(1), 69-84. Ernst, C.H., Cox, W.A. and Marion, K.R. 1989. The distribution and status of the flattened musk turtle, Sternotherus depressus (Testudines: Kinosternidae). Tulane Studies in Zoology and Botany 27:1–20. International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources’ Red List. van Dijk, P.P. 2016. Sternotherus depressus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T20824A97383753. Downloaded on 02 November 2016. Mount, R.H., 1981. The Status of the Flattened Musk Turtle, Sternotherus minor depressus. Tinkle and Webb. Contract report. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Atlanta, Georgia, 119 pp. Mount, R.H., Marion, K.R. and Cox, W.A., 1991. Status of the flattened musk turtle, Sternotherus depressus, in the mid- reaches of the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River, Blount and Jefferson counties, Alabama. Report to the Water Works and Sewer Board of the City of Birmingham 47 pp. Scott, P. and Rissler, L. 2015. Integrating Dynamic Occupancy Modeling and Genetics to Infer the Status of the Imperiled Flattened Musk Turtle. Biological Conservation 192:294-303. Tinkle, D.W. and Webb, R.G. 1955. A new species of Sternotherus with a discussion of the Sternotherus carinatus complex (Chelonia, Kinosternidae). Tulane Studies in Zoology 3:52-56. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1987. Determination of threatened status for the flattened musk turtle (Sternotherus depressus). Federal Register 50(212):45638-45643.