Population Estimates and Geographic Distribution of the Yellow Mud Turtle (Kinosternon flavescens) in Iowa

The yellow mud turtle (Kinosternon flavescens) is an endangered species in Iowa known from six localities in the stare. The only large population is located on a private preserve on Big Sand Mound in Muscatine and Louisa Countries and is estimated to consist of 2,000 to 3,000 individuals. Following the removal of predators in 1979, density estimates have tripled as estimated by the Sequential Bayes Algorithm of mark-recapture data. Assuming the Big Sand Mound population was nor severely damaged by the drought of 1988, it is judged sufficiently large to serve as a source to enrich certain of Iowa's other mud turtle populations.