Turtle research in the working forest
Cory Trowbridge, a PhD student in the University of New Brunswick’s Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, is studying the impact of the working forest on wood turtles, a federally endangered species. The study’s findings will inform future forestry practices.
As a species that lives in forested environments around rivers, wood turtles can be susceptible to impacts from forest management practices. Learning about this turtle provides a way to monitor how the working forest already supports diverse species and what it could do better.
In 2024, Cory and his team tagged 19 female wood turtles with GPS and radio transmitters in order to learn their movements and what habitats are used. Next, the turtles will be studied to analyze how harvested areas impact their habitat selection.
“You don’t often in biology get chances to do such a study of a before/after, especially on this scale of wildlife biology and wildlife ecology,” Cory said. “Usually you’re coming into a population that’s already been affected by something and you’re trying to see how they reacted to it when you don’t know what happened before. Luckily here we’re able to know what happens before so we can see what they do after.”
Wood turtles, unlike other species in Canada, stay on land for the majority of the summer. They like semi-forested conditions so that they can warm up in the sunlight of open areas and cool down in canopy covered areas, conditions that the working forest can provide.
“This study is important because we need to protect the wildlife and the habitat we have,” Cory said. “There’s so much we rely on from wood products. But we can use practices that aren’t as impactful and that might help promote ecology and biodiversity.”
Since 1990, J.D. Irving, Limited has invested $40 million in working forest research. These collaborations with dozens of researchers are driving new learnings on how the working forest interacts with a multitude of species from wood turtles and songbirds to moose and trees.
The research findings are implemented into a forest-wide conservation strategy. Find out the latest in the 2024 Forest Supply Chain Climate, Conservation and Community Impact Report at www.jdirvingsustainability.com.
