Long-Distance Dispersal by a Northern Bog Turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii)

Michael T. Jones^1,*, Angela Sirois-Pitel², Jason Tesauro³, and Rene Wendell²

¹Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA 01581. ²The Nature Conservancy, 636 West Road, Great Barrington, MA 01230.³Jason Tesauro Consulting, PO Box 5154, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865. *Corresponding author.

Northeastern Naturalist, Volume 31, Special Issue 12: G79–G84

First published early online: 19 July 2024

Abstract
Ecological studies of Glyptemys muhlenbergii (Bog Turtle) in the northern part of their range—from New England to Maryland—generally report that individuals exhibit high interannual fidelity to small, isolated, graminoid-dominated fens over periods up to several decades. However, relatively long-distance dispersal (to 4.0 km) events have been documented in southern populations from Virginia to Georgia. Studies of dispersal in Bog Turtles are generally hindered by the small size of the adult turtle, which limits the size, signal strength, and battery capacity of traditional VHF transmitters and other tracking methods. We report the apparent long-distance dispersal of a young male Bog Turtle marked at a long-term study site in Massachusetts in June 2018 and found dead on a residential homeowner’s driveway 3.9 km to the north 2 years later.

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