Jeff loviCh with a native sonora mud turtle
(left) and a red-eared slider turtle, whiCh
is native to the mississippi river valley. he
found and released the turtles while visitingmontezuma Castle national monument.
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{ Update:: NAU}
Shell shock
Book brings need for turtle conservation out of hiding
hey’ve been on the Earth for
more than 200 million years,
but these days, turtles are in
trouble.
“Simply put, turtles are
declining in numbers,” says Jeff Lovich,
an NAU researcher, biology lecturer
and author of a new book, Turtles of the
United States and Canada, Johns Hopkins
University Press.
Written with fellow turtle
expert Carl Ernst, the book includes
5,200 citations on North American
turtles, summarizes information for 58 turtle
species and reports on extinction causes and
conservation efforts for 14 species protected
under the Endangered Species Act.
“Turtles play important roles in
ecosystems. Some occupy a keystone role in
their environment and most benefit their
surroundings in some fashion,” Lovich
says. “But turtles are being threatened by
pollution, development, the pet trade and
by overexploitation for food — especially
in Asia. Many freshwater turtles in Asia
have been overharvested to the point of
near or actual extinction.”
Turtles also help scientists determine if
an ecosystem is becoming contaminated.
Because some species can live to be over a
hundred years old, they accumulate high
levels of toxic pollutants such as mercury,
which can help indicate if an ecosystem is
becoming poisonous.
Diane Rechel works in Northern Arizona University’s Office
of Public Affairs.
