During the 2013 summer field season, we actively surveyed 4 islands owned by the Georgian Bay Land Trust (Figure 1). These data (Table 1) were collected to validate Blanding’s turtle habitat suitability models created for the Georgian Bay archipelago. These data will be used in a geographic information system (GIS) to allow us to determine the accuracy of our habitat models. Our goal is to produce a model which accurately predicts islands in the Georgian Bay archipelago that provide suitable habitat for the Blanding’s turtle. This model will aid in the protection and management of this species at risk and the habitat it requires. This project is part of a multi-year PhD thesis and the final modelling results will be forwarded once completed.

»» View the full report