Australian short-necked turtle or "moving"

Due to climate change and other factors, the survival of the Australian short-necked turtle is seriously threatened. So biologists have come up with a controversial plan to protect the endangered animals: relocating them to "new homes" outside known historical habitats. If the plan is implemented, the Australian short-necked turtle will be the first vertebrate forced to migrate human-induced due to climate change.

From the moment it was known, the petite Western swamp turtle was in deep trouble. By the time it was officially named the Australian short-necked turtle in 1901, it was speculated that the animal was extinct. But in the 1950s, the turtle was rediscovered. As a result, biologists strongly called for the protection of the animal. The rare Australian short-necked turtle is facing a double whammy of habitat loss and invasive alien species.

After several years of planning, a one-year pilot project will track 12 captive young turtles released into two areas. These sites are about 250 kilometres south of the suburb of Pest, a natural habitat for the Australian short-necked turtle. Although these areas are not currently ideal homes for these turtles, detailed models of rainfall, temperature, hydrology and turtle biology predict that these areas will become the new home of australian short-necked turtles within half a century.

But the scheme is controversial and has a bad track record of introducing non-native species into new ecosystems, at least in Australia. But over the past 10 years, the idea of assisted migration has been welcomed by nature conservationists. They hope to reverse the impact of climate change on the sustainability of habitats for many biota.

Since previous captive schemes had failed to alleviate the endangered status of the Australian short-necked turtle, Western Australian university theorist Nicola Mitchell and colleagues turned to assisted colonization. "It's time to try something new." She said. Hugh Possingham, a biologist at the University of Queensland, also points out that "unless we try, we don't know what to do, so the sooner the better." (Zhang Zhang)

China Science Daily (2016-08-18 2nd Edition International)