**Abstract**
Alien invasive species that alter habitats can significantly impact native wildlife. The invasive graminoids Phragmites australis australis, hereafter Phragmites, and Typha × glauca are increasingly dominating Nearctic wetlands, often outcompeting native vegetation. Stands of Phragmites and mixed stands of T. latifolia, T. angustifolia, and their hybrid T. × glauca (hereafter collectively referred to as Typha) may provide unsuitable habitat for species-at-risk, although their impacts on imperilled turtles are uncertain. We tested the hypothesis that these invasive macrophytes do not provide suitable habitat for turtles, which predicted that turtles avoid Phragmites- and Typha-dominated habitats in a Laurentian Great Lakes wetland. We quantified active-season movements of Emydoidea blandingii (n = 14, 1328 relocations) and Clemmys guttata (n = 12, 2295 relocations). Neither species avoided home-ranges containing Phragmites or Typha, or avoided these macrophytes when moving within their home-range. We found no evidence that Phragmites or Typha shoot density affects microhabitat selection by E. blandingii or C. guttata. Diurnal temperatures experienced by turtles (allowing for ambient temperature changes) were similar among habitat types, suggesting that Phragmites and Typha do not limit turtles’ access to thermal resources. Overall, we found no evidence that either Phragmites or Typha constitute unsuitable habitats for freshwater turtles. Control or removal of invasive Phragmites and Typha can restore habitat heterogeneity and benefit native wetland species. However, such restoration work should be informed by the presence of at-risk turtles, as heavy machinery used for control or removal may injure turtles that use these stands as habitat.
