Impacted by USACE Reservoir Operations

neers (USACE) reservoirs may impact critical habitat parameters for riverine turtle species. This technical note identifies riverine turtle spe-cies and habitats potentially impacted by USACE reservoir or other water-control projects as re-ported by resource managers. Current state and/or Federal legal protection status is summa-rized as is the distribution of USACE Districts and reservoir projects potentially impacted by riverine turtle conservation issues (Table 1). Life-history summaries and habitat requirements are given for each riverine turtle species identi-fied as potentially impacted at reservoir operations. This group includes the largest number of species, of which 13 have state protection, 2 are listed as Federally endangered, and 1 is a Fed-eral candidate for legal protection (Figure 1, Table 2). Although the riverine turtle group con-tains the most species, only 3 species were reported as having potential environmental issues at some USACE projects (19 projects from 5 USACE Districts and 4 USACE Divisions). Distributions of these turtles are species specific; however, the collective range of this group covers all but the Pacific coastal, southwestern, and midwestern regions of the United States (Figure 2). These turtles occupy most freshwater habitats within their range but prefer quiet waters with soft bottoms, an abundance of aquatic plants, and suitable basking sites. Adults of these turtles primarily feed opportunistically as omnivorous scavengers. Young turtles in this group are primarily carnivorous. Large volumes of literature are available for some species within this group, whereas very sparse information exists on other species in this same group. Environmental contamination (i.e., pesticide poisoning) and excessive collecting for the pet trade have severely impacted populations in some areas