A. Joseph Jenkins

Alabama Natural Heritage Program Auburn University  Small, highly aquatic  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 = 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 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, depressus, in the Black Warrior River Basin of . 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: ). 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.