AUGUSTA — The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said its biologists captured and released more than 40 Blanding’s turtles this summer in an effort to better understand the dynamic between the endangered species and growing suburban areas in Maine.

The trapping effort is part of a two-year study with other Northeast states that seeks to develop a management plan that will afford protections for the endangered turtle, while also accommodating development needs.

Blanding’s turtles can live upwards of 70 years, but it takes 14 to 18 years before they can reproduce. They also have low hatching success, which makes survival of adults especially important.

IFW is working to see how best to protect these turtles, including an effort with MaineDOT, The Nature Conservancy and local towns to install temporary yellow warning signs in strategic locations to alert motorists to the presence of turtles on roadways.

Blanding’s turtles are 7 to 10 inches long with a yellow throat and light-colored flecking on a helmet-shaped shell. Blanding’s turtles are semiaquatic, preferring small, shallow wetlands in southern Maine, including pocket swamps and vernal pools.