Biologists to Return This Summer to Study New Mexico's Rio Grande Cooter
Wendy Kaplar
2 days ago
2 min read
The Rio Grande cooter (Pseudemys gorzugi) is a native freshwater turtle found in the Rio Grande drainage, including southeastern New Mexico, where biologists are studying its status and habitat needs. Photo Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
This summer, biologists will return to the Black River in Eddy County to study one of New Mexico’s lesser-known native turtles.
The Rio Grande cooter, one of New Mexico’s 10 native turtle species, is listed as threatened under the state Wildlife Conservation Act and has received less scientific attention than many other North American turtles.
New Mexico wildlife officials and researchers from outside the state are working to better understand the turtle’s status in New Mexico.
Dr. Ivana Mali of North Carolina State University spent seven years conducting population surveys in the Black River, with much of the work supported by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish’s Share with Wildlifeprogram. Her research produced data on survival, reproductive timing, diet, and distribution.
The Rio Grande cooter lives in parts of the Rio Grande/Río Bravo watershed in New Mexico, Texas, and northeastern Mexico. Scientists once grouped it with a related turtle, the river cooter, but in 1990, they classified the Rio Grande cooter as its own species, Pseudemys gorzugi.
The species relies on rivers, streams, and pools with enough water for movement, cover, basking, and nesting. When water levels drop, dry stretches can form between pools, leaving turtles cut off from areas they need to survive.
Drought and human-induced changes to springs, streams, rivers, and groundwater can reduce available habitat.
In a 2021 Species Status Assessment, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified declining water levels and degraded water quality as the most significant threats to the Rio Grande cooter. Habitat loss, pollution, drought, climate change, and illegal collection also affect the species.
Rio Grande cooters are part of the river food web as predators, prey, and scavengers. Their dependence on healthy streams and pools means the water problems affecting them can also affect other freshwater species in the Black River system.
Mali is expected to return to New Mexico this summer for more fieldwork. The work will provide a roughly five-year update on her earlier Black River research. The new surveys will show whether the population has changed and help state wildlife officials decide what conservation steps to consider.
