Status assessment and Conservation Plan ​for the eastern box turtle ​​in the northeastern United STATES

This project was funded by the Regional Conservation Needs Grant program.

From 2019–2023, the Northeast Eastern Box Turtle Working Group — a team of state, federal, university, and NGO biologists — collaborated to develop a status assessment and conservation plan for the eastern box turtle in the northeastern United States (Virginia to Maine). As a part of this project, we:

1. Developed a standardized population monitoring protocol
2. Identified key threats to population persistence
3. Estimated habitat impairment across the Northeast
4. Created a Conservation Area Network representing key regional priorities 
5. Established a Conservation Action Plan to guide future conservation efforts
6. Developed Best Management Practices 

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Regional Population Monitoring Protocol

Population Monitoring Protocol

pLOT-BASED SURVEY FORM

feATURE-BASED SURVEY FORM

iNDIVIDUAL tURTLE fORM

large individual form

Data entry Spreadsheet

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Additional Documents 

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Tutorials

DELINEATIng sites and plots

Conducting Surveys

PROCESSING turtles

sURVEY OPTIONS

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Population Monitoring Protocol Appendices

Appendix a.
​Survey Instructions

Appendix B.
Sampling Distribution plan

Appendix c.
​Tissue Sampling Protocol

Appendix D.
​PIT-Tag pROTOCOL

Appendix E.
​burn severity guide

Track-based Survey Form (pilot)

Phone App for surveying (pilot)

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Management Survey Forms

Survey form

Individual turtle form

Large Individual form

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Additional Regional Box Turtle Documents/Projects

Fly Parasitism

Myiasis Survey Form

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Volunteer Documents

Volunteers are a very important and valued part of this project! If you are collecting data as a volunteer, please track your effort using one of the two forms (.pdf or .xls) below. Thank you!

Volunteer Timesheet (PDF)

vOLUNTEER tIMESHEET (EXCEL)

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Partners Organizations