Importance of Ornate Box Turtles
Ornate box turtles and all species are important because they maintain diversity in our ecosystems. Maintaining a balanced food web in an ecosystem is essential to its health. In order to know why we take care of wildlife, it is important to note the impact they have on the environment.
Ornate box turtle eggs and species contribute an important role in the food web by providing variety in food sources. Their behaviors include grazing, digging burrows, dispersing seeds, creating and modifying habitats, and affecting mineral cycles which affect their overall habitat. Seeds passing through an ornate box turtle's gut can increase the seed germination rates thus developing more plants throughout a habitat. According to assistant professor Benjamin Reed at Washburn University in Topeka Kansas, ornate box turtles are important to ecosystems because they spread seeds and spores, prevent diseases by eating carrion, and help control pests and weeds (Tidd 2022).