Stinkpot (Sternotherus odoratus) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 10
Summary of Status Report
The Canadian population of stinkpots has certainly suffered a decline. In particular, most local populations in southwestern Ontario may have been extirpated presumably because of agricultural and urban development. Drainage of wetland habitat continues to pose a major threat to stinkpot populations in developing areas. As well, increasing human recreational activity (i.e. boating, fishing) and development in relatively undisturbed wetland habitat will likely result in higher mortality of adult turtles and destruction of shoreline nesting habitat. This is of great concern because the low recruitment rate, late maturity (8-10 years), and long-lived life history (>25 years) of this species will impede population recovery and, consequently, lead to serious long-term decline in population size over time. The data, albeit limited, indicate that stinkpots have largely disappeared in much of their original range in southern Ontario and are now confined primarily to the Georgian Bay area and southeastern Ontario. The areas from which they seem to have disappeared are those with the greatest alteration by agriculture, urbanization and cottage development. Cottage development is rapidly expanding in the remaining areas occupied by stinkpots. The pattern of apparent extirpation across Ontario means that the stinkpot populations in Georgian Bay area and southwest Ontario are probably isolated from each other and even within these areas the populations are often not continuous but occur in scattered locations. This species has low mobility; therefore, it is unlikely that extinctions in one locality can be prevented by immigration from another; therefore, local extirpations will probably be permanent. The stinkpot should therefore be designated as threatened.
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