• System-wide Monitoring Program
  •   Phase 1 (Abiotic)
    • Water Quality
      • Site Selection
      • Hydrographic
      • Nutrients
    • Meteorological
      • Introduction
      • Site Selection
      • Methods
    •   Real Time data
      • CDMO
      • YSI
  •   Phase 2 (Biodiversity)
  •   Phase 3 (Land Use)
  • Fact Sheets
•   Current Projects
  • Ecology of Salt Panne Habitats
  • Winter Ecology of Marshbirds
  • Winter Ecology of Shorebirds
  • Diamondback Terrapin Population Surveys
  • ECSC Partnership
• Past Projects
• Graduate Research Fellowships

Current Research Projects

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Diamondback Terrapin Population Surveys:

The diamondback terrapin is a species of small turtle native to salt marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. The Mississippi diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin pileata) is one of seven terrapin subspecies and ranges from the Florida panhandle to western Louisiana. While populations of some terrapin subspecies are well studied, little is known about the Mississippi diamondback terrapin. Threats to terrapins include habitat destruction and degradation, drowning in commercial crab traps, and nest predation. In addition, local terrapin populations may also be impacted by erosion of nesting beaches and the recent landfall of several major hurricanes and tropical storms. We are currently working to estimate the Grand Bay NERR population status using beach nesting surveys, mark-recapture, genetic analysis and sonic telemetry tracking of individuals.