Buech, R.R. 1991. Tentative guidelines for surveying and monitoring wood turtles. Final report to Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 7 pp.
The wood turtle is distributed in the United States from the Midwest to the Northeast, but it is not abundant. Many states in the Midwest are concerned about a seeming scarcity of wood turtles and have classified the wood turtle as "threatened", "endangered", "special concern", etc. However, better information is needed on the status of wood turtles. Our research unit has studied the movements and habitat use of wood turtles on a Minnesota river for one year. We believe we now have enough information on the habitat requirements of wood turtles to be able to guide a survey for wood turtles in other watersheds and to monitor their reproduction and abundance. Our objective is to provide tentative guidelines for surveying and monitoring wood turtles that can be tested in the field. This document contains a description of the natural history of wood turtles and proposed procedures for surveying and monitoring wood turtles. We intend to evaluate these guidelines during 1991 on two cooperative projects; one with the Minnesota DNR and the other with the XXXXXXX. Subsequent to our experience on these projects, the guidelines will be revised.
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Please note that all location information has been removed from this document to protect the wood turtle populations