Share your observations of plants or non-game animals with the Natural Heritage Inventory
Help care for rare plants and animals by ordering an Endangered Resources plate.
Photo © A.B. Sheldon
Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata), listed as Endangered in Wisconsin, prefers mesic prairies, dry-mesic prairies, sand prairies, oak savannas, and open to semi-open woodlands. They overwinter in deep sand and/or well drained soils in open canopy microhabitats supporting sparse vegetation and in areas of disturbed soils such as the edges of sand blows. Ornates may be active from early March through mid-November. Nesting occurs in early June with hatching typically occuring in August or early September, although some hatchlings emerge the following spring. See the species guidance document for avoidance measures and management guidance from the Natural Heritage Conservation Program.
The table below provides information about the protected status - both state and federal - and the rank (S and G Ranks) for Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata). See the Working List Key for more information about abbreviations. Counties shaded blue have documented occurrences for this species in the Wisconsin Natural Heritage Inventory database. The map is provided as a general reference of where occurrences of this species meet NHI data standards and is not meant as a comprehensive map of all observations.
Note: Species recently added to the NHI Working List may temporarily have blank occurrence maps.
| Summary Information | |
|---|---|
| State Status | END |
| Federal Status in Wisconsin | none |
| State Rank | S1 |
| Global Rank | G5 |
| Tracked by NHI | Y |
| WWAP | SGCN |
Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata) has very few known occurrences in the state and is of the highest priority for conservation; we encourage you to consult with your District Ecologist or an NHI Zoologist for specific recommendations for your site.
This document contains identification and life history information for Ornate Box Turtle. It also describes how to screen projects for potential impact to this species, lists avoidance measures, and provides general management guidance.
Ornate Box Turtle Species Guidance [PDF]
Click to view a larger version. Please considering donating a photo to the Natural Heritage Conservation Program for educational uses. Photo use
Ornate Box Turtle hatching
Photo © A.B. Sheldon.
Juvenile Ornate Box Turtle
Photo © A.B. Sheldon.
Ornate Box Turtle
Photo © A.B. Sheldon.
Ornate Box Turtle
Photo © A.B. Sheldon.
Ornate box turtles reach the extreme northeastern limits of their range in habitats such as the sandy prairies and savannas of SW WI.
Photo © A.B. Sheldon.
The table below lists the natural communities that are associated with Ornate Box Turtle. Only natural communities for which Ornate Box Turtle is "high" (score=3) or "moderate" (score=2) associated are shown. See the key to association scores for complete definitions. Please see the Wildlife Action Plan to learn how this information was developed.
| Natural community | Score |
|---|---|
| Central Sands Pine - Oak Forest | 3 |
| Dry Prairie | 3 |
| Eastern Red-cedar Thicket | 3 |
| Oak Opening | 3 |
| Oak Woodland | 3 |
| Sand Barrens | 3 |
| Sand Prairie | 3 |
| Southern Dry Forest | 3 |
| Southern Dry-mesic Forest | 3 |
| Dry-mesic Prairie | 2 |
| Mesic Prairie | 2 |
| Southern Mesic Forest | 2 |
| Surrogate Grasslands | 2 |
The table below lists the ecological landscape association scores for Ornate Box Turtle. The scores correspond to the map (3=High, 2=Moderate, 1=Low, 0=None). For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
| Ecological landscape | score |
|---|---|
| Central Sand Hills | 3 |
| Southeast Glacial Plains | 3 |
| Western Coulee and Ridges | 3 |
| Central Sand Plains | 1 |
Ecological priorities are the combinations of natural communities and ecological landscapes that provide Wisconsin's best opportunities to conserve important habitats for a given Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The 10 highest scoring combinations are considered ecological priorities and are listed below. More than 10 combinations are listed if multiple combinations tied for 10th place. For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
* Ecological priority score is a relative measure that is not meant for comparison between species. This score does not consider socio-economical factors that may dictate protection and/or management priorities differently than those determined solely by ecological analysis. Further, a low ecological priority score does not imply that management or preservation should not occur on a site if there are important reasons for doing so locally.
Conservation actions respond to issues or threats, which adversely affect species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) or their habitats. Besides actions such as restoring wetlands or planting resilient tree species in northern communities, research, surveys and monitoring are also among conservation actions described in the WWAP because lack of information can threaten our ability to successfully preserve and care for natural resources.