Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Massachusetts
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Eastern box turtles are near the northern edge of their range in Massachusetts, where they are listed as a species of Special Concern. To help guide conservation action in the region, we have been collecting habitat selection and movement data to build models that predict likely areas that could support viable populations of the species. Our modeling is done at multiple spatial and temporal scales, thus allowing us to develop robust predictions of sites that should be the focus of long-term conservation. Our landscape models were recently used to prioritize box turtle sites for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and to complete a conservation plan for the species.