Maintain dams or water impoundments

Overall effectiveness category Awaiting assessment
Number of studies: 1
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Effectiveness

not assessed
Certainty

not assessed
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Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Dams or ‘impoundments’ may provide functional habitat for reptiles. Maintaining dam structures, including removing silt may benefit reptiles that depend on impounded water sources.

Study locations

Key messages

One study evaluated the effects of maintaining dams or water impoundments on reptile populations. This study was in the USA.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

POPULATION RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

BEHAVIOUR (1 STUDY)

Use (1 study): One replicated, before-and-after study in the USA found that after sediment removal, or dam maintenance along with sediment removal, one water impoundment was still used by Sonoran mud turtles and a second was not used.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A replicated, before-and-after study in 1994–2013 of three intermittent water impoundments in Arizona and New Mexico, USA (Stone et al. 2014) found that following silt removal and (in one case) dam repair, Sonoran mud turtles Kinosternon sonoriense still used one restored pond but were not seen at a second. After silt was removed and a dam leakage repaired at one water impoundment, Sonoran mud turtles were caught in similar numbers to before the dam started leaking (no data are provided). At a second water impoundment, no turtles were caught after sediment was removed, although eight turtles had been caught within 0.1 km of the site previously. At a third water impoundment, the pond re-silted within two months of being cleared and no results for Sonoran mud turtles were reported. Sediment (88–190 m³) was mechanically removed from three water impoundments in May 2012. The first impoundment (375 m² surface area) had dam leakages and drained completely in 2008 and again in 2011 and was repaired in 2009 and 2012. The second impoundment (95 m² surface area after de-silting) was completely silted and dry from 1994. The third impoundment (300 m² surface area) was filled with silt and wildfire ash from 2010. Surveys for turtles took place in 1994–2013 (no details are provided).
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Stone P.A., Congdon J.D. & Smith C.L. (2014) Conservation triage of sonoran mud turtles (Kinosternon sonoriense). Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 9, 448-453.

Please cite as:

Sainsbury K.A., Morgan W.H., Watson M., Rotem G., Bouskila A., Smith R.K. & Sutherland W.J. (2021) Reptile Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions for reptiles. Conservation Evidence Series Synopsis. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

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This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Reptile Conservation

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Regulate water levels Action Link	Awaiting assessment	1	Synopsis Link
Alter water flow rates Action Link	Awaiting assessment	1	Synopsis Link
Maintain dams or water impoundments Action Link	Awaiting assessment	1	Synopsis Link