Ghosts of the Swamp: Challenges Associated with Surveying for Spotted Turtles (Clemmys guttata) in the Southeastern United States

Houston C. Chandler^1,2,*, Benjamin S. Stegenga¹, Zachary A. Cava^1,3, Andrea Colton^1,4, Michael T. Holden^1,2, David Hutto Jr.^1,2, Trina M. Wantman^1,5, and Jonathan D. Mays⁶

¹The Orianne Society, 11 Old Fruitstand Lane, Tiger, GA 30576. ²Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, 310 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24061. ³Current address - The Biophilia Group LLC, Sacramento, CA 95816. ⁴Current address - Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1816 S Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820. ⁵Current address - University of Maine, 168 College Avenue, Orono, ME 04469. ⁶Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 1105 SW Williston Road, Gainesville, FL 32601. *Corresponding author.

Northeastern Naturalist, Volume 31, Special Issue 12 (2024): C1–C16

First published early online: 30 May 2024

Abstract
For species of conservation concern, documenting extant populations is a critical first step to making informed conservation and management decisions at both local and regional scales. We implemented a standardized survey protocol, consisting of both trapping and visual-encounter surveys, in an effort to document Clemmys guttata (Spotted Turtle) populations at sites across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina from 2018 to 2021. We surveyed a total of 56 sites, conducting 5703 trap nights and 891 visual-encounter surveys. Across all surveys, we observed Spotted Turtles at 16 sites, including 5 long-term–monitoring sites and 11 sites that were formally surveyed for the first time. Of the 11 new sites with detections, 7 were characterized by the observation of just a single individual. Using single-season occupancy models, we found that estimates of occupancy (min–max: 0.12–0.13) and detection (min–max: 0.19–0.20) probability were low at mean covariate values. Overall, we struggled to document Spotted Turtle populations across 3 southeastern states using standardized survey methodologies. Even successful documentation of new populations was often supported by few individuals, suggesting our survey efforts were missing core-activity areas, that populations exist at low densities, and/or that populations have declined at some sites.

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