EIGHTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING

of the

ALABAMA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, INC.

February 28 - March 2, 2007

Tuskegee Univeristy

Tuskegee, AL

A systematic, road-kill survey was conducted (by bicycle or automobile) on the Mobile Bay Causeway (US 90 & US 98) from April 2001 to December 2006 to assess the numbers of Alabama red-bellied turtles (Pseudemys alabamensis) killed by automobile traffic. A federally endangered species, Pseudemys alabamensis has been designated as the official "Alabama state reptile." A total of 444 Alabama red-bellied turtles were recorded over the six-year study: 326 hatchlings, 101 adult females (most gravid), 13 juveniles, and 4 males. A majority of hatchlings (94.4%) over- wintered in the nests to emerge during the following Spring (March-May). Fewer numbers of hatchlings (5.5%) emerged during the Fall (October and November) of the same year. Direct hits by hurricanes apparently resulted in fewer roadside mortalities of hatchlings (as they are drowned or emerged prematurely). The mortality of adult females (N=101) was greatest (91.1%) during the nesting season: May, June, July. Each year, from 5 to 34 nesting females (mean = 16.8) were killed by vehicular traffic on the road. Because of the limited availability of favorable nesting sites in the lower delta, gravid females are attracted to the elevated shoulders of some roadsides where they deposit eggs (and may incur mortality). Agencies of the state (ADCNR, DOT) and federal (USFW) governments are presently seeking a viable solution to reduce the roadside mortality of turtles along the Mobile Bay causeway.