Importance/Issues

The Florida Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina bauri, is a long-lived species that reflects long-term habitat conditions at a site and region. Box Turtles are susceptible to habitat loss and fragmentation as well as mortality due to roadkill (cars, farm equipment, lawn-mowers), intense fires, dog and cat injury and predation, and other pressures such as collection as pets, egg predation, and pesticide concerns. They utilize a diverse selection of upland and seasonally-flooded habitats throughout the year and play a key ecological role, serving as both predators and prey, contributing to nutrient cycles and dispersing seeds for many native plants. At the species level, the eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina, has been categorized as �vulnerable� in 2011 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to �A wide variety of population data sets at different sites and over different periods indicate a widespread persistent and ongoing gradual decline of Terrapene carolina that probably exceeds 30% over three generations��¹ Whether such declines are also occurring in south Florida national parks is unclear.

Florida Box Turtle in our National Parks