Jeff Lang, a Minnesota biologist, is using ATS equipment to track Blanding's turtles in order to help save them from becoming road kill on regional highways. Since 1996, he's been studying Blanding's turtle populations in Minnesota at Camp Ripley, near Baxter, at Weaver Dunes near Wabasha, and also in the Sandhills of Nebraska. He is currently working in southwestern Minnesota. Throughout its range this turtle species, which grows to about a foot in length and can live for over seventy years, is threatened with loss of wetland habitats and declining populations due to road mortality.

In all of these endeavors, Dr. Lang's focus has been on describing how individuals of this long-lived species use various habitats throughout the year, and on devising ways to reduce road mortality. The key ingredient in his approach involves radio telemetry of marked turtles, both adults and juveniles. Dr. Lang has used ATS transmitters and receivers exclusively since 1996. He is delighted, he told us, that "a few of the original transmitters, purchased in 1996 and refurbished multiple times, are still going strong." This year, our equipment has helped him locate turtles while they overwinter in prairie streams, move into adjoining wetlands, and nest on surrounding hillsides in southwestern Minnesota.

In Nebraska, Blanding's turtles became an issue in 1999, as plans began for widening U.S. Highway 83, which runs through the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge. Construction of the highway was delayed due to concerns for the effects on wildlife crossing it. Dr. Lang was commissioned by Nebraska's Department of Roads (DOR) to study effects of roadside mortality on the Blanding's turtle, and to make recommendations to DOR on where to install fencing and culverts in order to direct turtles away from the roadbed.

The research involved use of ATS' Reptile Glue-on Transmitter, model R1930. Seventy-five of these transmitters were attached to individual turtles for the study. Using the ATS FM100 Fieldmaster Receiver mounted on a portable Yagi antenna, Dr. Lang is able to easily track movements of the turtles outfitted with the transmitter. Movement data from these studies has helped him determine where to place fences and to better locate culverts in order to reduce road mortality.

 

During Minnesota's renowned cold winters, the turtles can survive in a state of suspended animation while buried in marshes, lakes, and streams. The rest of the year, Dr. Lang continues asking the question, how might turtles cross the road safely?

For three years in southeastern Minnesota, Dr. Lang and his colleagues have used ATS' equipment in order to track these turtles. Since the reptiles are long-ranged, another factor in their road mortality, the best way to research them is through well-designed and reliable radio tracking systems.

We asked Dr. Lang how radio telemetry has made a difference in his research. Dr. Lang called the Blanding's turtle a "cryptic species." He said that "radio telemetry has been central to learning the basic natural history of the Blanding's turtle, and on getting a handle on which habitats the turtles are using, since they are extremely difficult to just stumble across."

In selecting and procuring this equipment, so essential to the overall success of a research project, Dr. Lang had some advice: "many events in the field are unique. You may only get one chance to make an observation, so you shouldn't cut corners on this kind of equipment. We need to remember that in most cases, funds spent on the tracking equipment are a tiny fraction of the total project cost, particularly when you factor in the time and energy invested in capturing, marking, and tracking animals in the typical field project. Skimping on the reliability and dependability of the equipment just doesn't make any sense. It's not good biology, and definitely not a sound investment."

Radio telemetry has allowed the biologist to better devise effective management strategies in an effort to prevent this species from becoming more endangered. Once individual turtles are located through radio telemetry, Dr. Lang is able to directly observe where they travel, where they nest, and how they use waterways and wetlands in order to make their living.

These turtles can easily survive the cold Minnesota winters; but the roadways pose a different challenge to these slow moving reptiles. Hopefully, through use of radio telemetry and observational research, Dr. Lang can help highway designers provide ways for the turtle to cross roadways via culverts below them, rather than across them.