The Habitat and Distribution of the Stinkpot, Sternotherus odoratus, in Iowa

Authors

Kristi K. Sutton, Drake University
James L. Christiansen, Drake UniversityFollow

Document Type

Research

Keywords

Iowa kinosternids, Iowa turtle ecology, Sternotherus odoratus, Kinosternon flavescens spooneri, stinkpot ecology, Illinois mud turtle ecology

Abstract

Twenty years of study have shown that the stinkpot, Sternotherus odoratus and the Illinois mud turtle (Kinosternon flavescens spooneri) occur in Iowa primarily in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. Even though the turtles are found within a kilometer of each other, they are never sympatric. Illinois mud turtles are most often associated with ephemeral ponds and soils of nearly pure sand (Sparta sand and Chelsea loamy fine sand), whereas stinkpots inhabit permanent water, often fed by cold springs, and are limited to sandy, loamy soils (Aquolls and Perks sandy loam). Even though several new localities have been discovered for stinkpots, population densities are very low, and survival of the species in Iowa is tenuous.

Publication Date

September 1999

Journal Title

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

106

Issue

3

First Page

63

Last Page

65

Copyright

© Copyright 1999 by the Iowa Academy of Science, Inc.

Language

EN

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Sutton, Kristi K. and Christiansen, James L. (1999) "The Habitat and Distribution of the Stinkpot, Sternotherus odoratus, in Iowa," Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS, 106(3), 63-65.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/jias/vol106/iss3/4