| Taxa: |
| Order: |
| Family: |
| Reptilia |
| Testudines |
| Emydidae |
| NatureServe Global Rank: |
| NatureServe State (NC) Rank: |
| G5 |
| S5 |
| Federal Status: |
| NC State Status: |
| --- |
| --- |
| Land Unit |
| US Fish & Wildlife Service |
| US Forest Service |
| US National Park Service |
| US Department of Defense |
| NC State Parks |
| NC University System |
| NC Wildlife Res. Com. |
| NC Forest Service |
| NC Div. of Coastal Mgmt. |
| Local Governments |
| Non-Governmental Org. |
| Other Public Lands |
| Private Lands |
| GAP Status 1-2 |
| All Protected Lands |
| Statewide |
| Hectares |
| 17,823.78 |
| 7,415.64 |
| 25,957.35 |
| 2,357.10 |
| 7,540.83 |
| 1,295.82 |
| 16,836.30 |
| 799.29 |
| 1,693.35 |
| 1,836.18 |
| 3,297.06 |
| 1,127.34 |
| 1,555,982.28 |
| 42,705.90 |
| 85,345.47 |
| 1,643,962.32 |
| Acres |
| 44,043.51 |
| 18,324.44 |
| 64,142.00 |
| 5,824.52 |
| 18,633.79 |
| 3,202.04 |
| 41,603.40 |
| 1,975.09 |
| 4,184.36 |
| 4,537.30 |
| 8,147.21 |
| 2,785.72 |
| 3,844,915.20 |
| 105,528.56 |
| 210,893.21 |
| 4,062,318.57 |
| % of Dist. on |
| Prot. Lands |
| 20.9 % |
| 8.7 % |
| 28.1 % |
| 2.8 % |
| 8.8 % |
| 1.5 % |
| 19.2 % |
| 0.9 % |
| 2.0 % |
| 3.8 % |
| 3.8 % |
| 1.1 % |
| < 0.1 % |
| 50.0 % |
| ----- |
| ----- |
| % of Dist. on |
| All Lands |
| 1.1 % |
| 0.5 % |
| 1.6 % |
| 0.1 % |
| 0.5 % |
| < 0.1 % |
| 1.0 % |
| < 0.1 % |
| 0.1 % |
| 0.1 % |
| 0.2 % |
| < 0.1 % |
| 94.6 % |
| 2.6 % |
| ----- |
| ----- |
|
The yellow-bellied slider inhabits all manner of coastal plain freshwater habitats, from lakes and ponds, to rivers, ditches, marshes, bays, and swamps (Carr 1952, Conant 1958). The species is a common inhabitant of permanent ponds, such as sink holes, Carolina Bays and small manmade impoundments. But, it is also found in rivers, small streams and
sloughs and at the edges of lakes (Carr 1952). It prefers quiet or still waters with an abundance of aquatic vegetation, soft organic substrates, and basking sites, such as half submerged fallen trees or shoreline mud spots. Can tolerate some brackish waters but prefers freshwater waterbodies. The species normally travels by water and rarely ventures far over
land. Therefore, best habitats are near river and stream corridors. NATURE SERVE GLOBAL HABITAT COMMENTS: Usually in quiet water with abundant aquatic vegetation, soft bottom, and basking sites. Hibernates underwater or in protected places near waterline (Ernst and Barbour 1972). More tolerant of pollution than are most turtles. Eggs are laid in nests dug in soft damp soil in open areas. Nesting area may be on nearest suitable site or far from water (usually the former) (Ernst and Barbour 1972). In Costa Rica, some females briefly enter the sea and nest on Caribbean Sea beaches (upper beach berm usually under cocoplum vegetation; hatchlings probably do not enter the sea (Moll 1994). |
| Code | Name | Description | NC Natural Heritage Program Equivalent |
| 378 | Ocean Beaches | Open beach sand. | Upper Beach |
| 3 | Tidal Marsh | Fresh and brackish tidal marshes, including cord grass, wild rice, sawgrass and needlerush alliances. | Brackish Marsh, Interdune pond, Maritime wet grassland |
| 124 | Maritime Scrubs and Tidal Shrublands | Coastal shrubs including wax-myrtle, swamp rose, alder, yaupon, and greenbriar. | Maritime Shrubs, Salt Shrub |
| 372 | Interdune Herbaceous Wetlands | Dune swales with permanently flooded to intermittently exposed hydrology. Species composition depends on salinity and can include cut grass, spike-rush, mosquito fern, and hornwort. | Interdune Pond, Maritime Wet Grasslands |
| 371 | Maritime Grasslands | Dune grass community consisting of sea oats and beach grasses. | Dune grass, Maritime dry grassland |
| 75 | Tidal Swamp Forest | Swamp tupelo dominated forest with or without black tupelo and/or cypress trees. Restricted to the tidal zones in the coastal plain. May have inclusions of coastal red cedar woodlands. | Tidal cypress - gum swamp |
| 121 | Maritime Pinelands | Loblolly forests and woodlands of the outer coastal plain. | Estuarine Fringe Loblolly Pine Forest |
| 17 | Maritime Forests and Hammocks | Maritime forests and woodlands dominated by live or sand laurel oak. Estuarine Fringe forests dominated by loblolly pine. | Coastal Fringe Evergreen Forest, Maritime Deciduous Forest, Maritime Deciduous Forest |
| 126 | Interdune Wooded Depression Swamp | Includes swamps dominated by sweetbay and swampbay or dogwood dominated forests. | Maritime Shrub Swamp, Maritime Swamp Forest |
| 380 | Coastal Plain Fresh Water Emergent | Emergent vegetation in fresh water seepage bogs, ponds and riverbeds of the coastal plain. Includes alliances dominated by sedges, eelgrass, as well as cane found in unforested cane-brakes. | Small Depression Pond, Sandhill Seep, Floodplain Pool, Unforested Floodplain Canebrake, Riverscour Prairies, Vernal Pools |
| 173 | Coastal Plain Riverbank Shrubs | Shrub dominated riverbanks, commonly dominated by willows and/or alders. | Sand and Mud Bar |
| 50 | Coastal Plain Mixed Bottomland Forests | Includes forests dominated by a variety of hardwood species, including sweetgum, cottonwood, red maple. | Coastal Plain Bottomland Hardwood (in part), Coastal Plain Levee Forest |
| 49 | Coastal Plain Oak Bottomland Forest | Bottomland forests dominated by deciduous oak alliances. Oaks represented can include swamp chestnut, cherrybark, willow, and/or overcup oak. Inclusions of loblolly pine temporarily flooded forests occur in patches. Hydrology is temporarily to seasonally flooded. | Coastal Plain Bottomland Hardwoods (in part) blackwater subtype, brownwater subtype |
| 158 | Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Flat Forests | Loblolly pine - Atlantic white-cedar - red maple - swamp tupelo saturated forests as well as forests dominated by loblolly, sweetgum, and red maple in non-riverine flats. | Non-riverine Wet Hardwood Forest |
| 41 | Peatland Atlantic White-Cedar Forest | Dense stands of Atlantic white cedar with saturated hydrology. Can include swamp tupelo, red maple, and pond pines with a moderate shrub and herb layer. | Peatland Atlantic White-Cedar Forest |
| 15 | Seepage and Streamhead Swamps | Includes extensive peat flats in the coastal plain, dominated by swamp tupelo, maples, and Atlantic white cedar alliances. In the sandhills includes streamhead pond pine and bay forests alliances. Saturated hydrology. | Bay Forest, Small Depression Pocosin, Streamhead Atlantic White Cedar Forest, Streamhead Pocosins |
| 30 | Cypress-Gum Floodplain Forests | Swamps dominated by black or swamp tupelo with or without Taxodium. Seasonally to semi-permanently flooded hydrology. | Cypress-Gum Swamps |
| 78 | Pond-Cypress - Gum Swamps, Savannas and Lakeshores | Cypress dominated swamps and lakeshores. Can include bays dominated by pond cypress or shorelines of coastal plain lakes with a narrow band of cypress. | Non-riverine Swamp Forest, Natural Lakeshores (in part) |
| 385 | Oak Bottomland Forest and Swamp Forest | The swamp chestnut oak, cherrybark oak, shumard oak and sweetgum alliance is one representative. Other alliances are dominated by water, willow, and overcup oaks. Swamp forests can be dominated by sweetgum, red maple, and black gum being dominant. Loblolly can occur in combination with sweetgum and red maple, or with tulip poplar. Includes saturated and semi- to permanently flooded forests in the mountains. | Piedmont/Mountain Bottomland Forest, Piedmont/Mountain Swamp Forest |
| 63 | Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forests | Beech dominated forests with white oak and northern red oak as possible co-dominants. Dry-mesic to mesic forests on slopes and small stream bottoms in the coastal plain. | Mesic Mixed Hardwood Forest, Basic Mesic Forests |
| 138 | Coastal Plain Dry to Dry-Mesic Oak Forests | Oak dominated forests of the coastal plain. Includes white oak forests with water oak or northern red oak and hickories as co-dominants. | Dry Mesic Oak Hickory Forest, Basic Oak Hickory Forest, Dry Oak Hickory Forest |
| 87 | Pocosin Woodlands and Shrublands | Includes pond pine woodland, low pocosin and high pocosin shrub dominated areas. Canebrakes and bay forests may be present. | Pond Pine Woodlands, Peatland Canebrake, Small Depression Pocosin |
| 67 | Wet Longleaf or Slash Pine Savanna | Wet flatwoods and pine savannas, typically dominated by longleaf pines, but slash or pond pines may be the dominant pines. | Wet Pine Flatwoods |
| 97 | Mesic Longleaf Pine | Longleaf pine woodlands without a major scrub oak component. Slash or loblolly pines may be present as well. | Mesic Pine Flatwoods |
| 42 | Xeric Longleaf Pine | Sandhills including a range of longleaf pine density from predominantly wiregrass, scrub oak dominated to true longleaf pine woodland. This does not include mesic or saturated flatwood types. | Xeric Sandhill Scrub, Pine/Scrub Oak Sandhill, Coastal Fringe Sandhill |
| 46 | Xeric Oak - Pine Forests | Mixed forest dominated by yellow pines with white or northern red oaks co-dominating. | Pine Oak Heath |
| 232 | Xeric Pine-Hardwood Woodlands and Forests | Mixed forest dominated by yellow pines with drier oaks including southern red, post, and chestnut oaks. | Dry Oak Hickory Forest |
| 238 | Piedmont/Mountain Submerged Aquatic Vegetation | Seasonally to permanently flooded areas with aquatic vegetation. Waterlily, pondweed, hydrilla smartweed are a few of the species that can occur. | Piedmont/Mountain Semipermanent Impoundment (in part) |
| 239 | Piedmont/Mountain Emergent Vegetation | Emergent vegetation of all wetland hydrologies. Sites would commonly support species such as tussock sedge, rushs, and cattail alliances. | Rocky Bar and Shore (in part) |
| 267 | Riverbank Shrublands | Riverside shrubs with temporarily flooded hydrologies. Found in the both the Mountains and Piedmont. Containing dominants such as smooth alder and a Carolina or black willows. | Sand and Mud Bar |
| 269 | Floodplain Wet Shrublands | Saturated shrublands of the Piedmont, includes buttonbush, swamp-loosestrife, decodon and alders. | Piedmont/mountain Semipermanent Impoundment |
| 230 | Piedmont Mesic Forest | American Beech - Red Oak - White Oak Forests. | Mesic Mixed Hardwood |
| 384 | Piedmont/Mountain Mixed Bottomland Hardwood Forests | Includes temporarily to seasonally forests dominated by hardwood species. Hardwoods include sweetgum, red maple, sycamore which co-occur in a mosaic of bottomland and levee positions. Includes alluvial hardwood forests in the mountains. Hemlock and white pine may occur as inclusions, but are generally mapped separately. | Piedmont/Mountain Alluvial Forest, Piedmont/Mountain Levee Forest |
| 383 | Piedmont Mixed Successional Forest | Generally loblolly mixed with successional hardwoods. Sweetgum, tulip poplar and red maple are common co-dominants in these successional forests. | No equivalent |
| 228 | Piedmont Dry-Mesic Oak and Hardwood Forests | Primarily oak dominated forests, white oak is often dominant, with co-dominants including . Also represented by sweetgum and tulip poplar dominated forests. | Dry Mesic Oak Hickory Forest, Basic Oak Hickory Forest, Dry Oak Hickory Forest |
| 222 | Piedmont Dry-Mesic Pine Forests | Loblolly dominated forests resulting from succession following clearing. This type occurs on all moisture regimes following disturbance with the exception of the extremely xeric sites. | No equivalent |
| 382 | Dry Mesic Oak Pine Forests | Mixed forests of the coastal plain and piedmont. Includes loblolly pine with white, southern red and/or post oak and loblolly with water oak. On basic sites of the piedmont, eastern red cedar may co-occur with post, black, and blackjack oaks. | Dry Mesic Oak Hickory Forest, Xeric Hard Pan Forest, Chestnut Oak Forest, Dry Mesic Oak Hickory Forest, Dry Oak Hickory Forest |
| 220 | Piedmont Xeric Pine Forests | Dry to xeric pine forests dominated by Virginia pine, shortleaf pine or Eastern Red Cedar. | Pine Oak Heath |
| 226 | Piedmont Xeric Woodlands | Generally post and blackjack oak dominated woodlands. White ash and pignut hickory can be found in combination with Eastern red cedar on glades. | Xeric Hardpan Forest |
| 20 | Coniferous Regeneration | Regenerating pine stands. Predominantly loblolly pine, but slash and longleaf stands occur as well. | No equivalent |
| 21 | Coniferous Cultivated Plantation (natural / planted) | Managed pine plantations, densely planted. Most planted stands are loblolly, but slash and longleaf occur as well. | No equivalent |
| 51 | Deciduous Cultivated Plantation | Planted deciduous trees. Includes sweetgum and sycamore plantations. | No equivalent |
| 36 | Successional Deciduous Forests | Regenerating deciduous trees with a shrub stature. Commonly dominated by sweetgum, tulip poplars and maples. | No equivalent |
| 180 | Agricultural Crop Fields | Farm fields used for row crops. | No equivalent |
| 205 | Agricultural Pasture/Hay and Natural Herbaceous | Farm fields used for pasture grass or hay production, as well as old fields dominated by native and exotic grasses. | No equivalent |
| 60 | Sand | Exposed sand, predominantly in the sandhills region where disturbance or the extreme site conditions prevent natural regeneration. | No equivalent |
| 202 | Residential Urban | Includes vegetation interspersed in residential areas. Includes lawns, mixed species woodlots, and horticultural shrubs. Vegetation accounts for between 20 - 70% of the cover. | No equivalent |
| 8 | Open water | Open water without aquatic vegetation. | No equivalent |
|
Jackson, D. R. 1988. A re-examination of fossil turtles of the genus TRACHEMYS (Testudines:Emydidae). Herpetologica 44:317-325.
Burke, V. J., J. L. Greene, and J. W. Gibbons. 1995. The effect of sample size and study duration on metapopulation estimates for slider turtles (TRACHEMYS SCRIPTA). Herpetologica 51:451-456. Carr, A. 1952. HANDBOOK OF TURTLES. CORNELL UNIV. PRESS, ITHACA. 542 PP. Schwartz, A., and R. W. Henderson. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies:Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida. xvi + 720 pp. Jackson, D. R. 1994. Overwintering of hatchling turtles in northern Florida. J. Herpetol. 28:401-402. Hart, D. R. 1983. Dietary and habitat shift with size of red-eared turtles (PSEUDEMYS SCRIPTA) in a southern Louisiana population. Herpetologica 39:285-290. Frazer, N. B., J. W. Gibbons, and J. L. Greene. 1990. Life table of a slider turtle population. Pages 183-200 in J. W. Gibbons, editor. Life history and ecology of the slider turtle. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. Ernst, C. H., and R. W. Barbour. 1972. Turtles of the United States. Univ. Press of Kentucky, Lexington. x + 347 pp. Behler, J. L., and F. W. King. 1979. The Audubon Society field guide to North American reptiles and amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 719 pp. Ward, J. P. 1984. Relationships of chrysemyd turtles of North America (Testudines:Emydidae). Spec. Publ. Museum, Texas Tech Univ. (21):1-50. Seidel, M. E., and H. M. Smith. 1986. CHRYSEMYS, PSEUDEMYS, TRACHEMYS (Testudines:Emydidae):did Agassiz have it right? Herpetologica 42:242-248. Green, N. B., and T. K. Pauley. 1987. Amphibians and reptiles in West Virginia. University of Pittsburg Press, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. xi + 241 pp. Gibbons, J. W. 1990. Life history and ecology of the slider turtle. Smithsonian Inst. Press, Washington, D.C. xiv + 368 pp. Iverson, J. B. 1991. Patterns of survivorship in turtles (order Testudines). Canadian J. Zoology 69:385-391. Ashton, R. E., Jr., and P. S. Ashton. 1991. Handbook of reptiles and amphibians of Florida. Part two. Lizards, turtles & crocodilians. Revised second edition. Windward Pub., Inc., Miami. 191 pp. |
For more information please contact them at:
NC-GAP Analysis Project
Dept. of Zoology, NCSU
Campus Box 7617
Raleigh, NC 27695-7617
(919) 513-2853
www.basic.ncsu.edu/ncgap