Wood turtles are stream-associated turtles of northeastern North America that are declining from habitat loss, road mortality, and illegal collection. They require clean streams with sandy banks for nesting and adjacent upland habitat for foraging.
Wood turtles struck by vehicles during the spring and summer when females search for nest sites suffer traumatic injuries. Agricultural sedimentation of streams eliminates the clean gravel substrates required for nesting. Illegal collection of large adults removes the oldest and most reproductively successful individuals from populations with very slow reproductive rates. The combination of these threats creates compound welfare pressure on a long-lived species with limited recovery potential.