Download or read book Investigation of Health in Translocated Gopher Tortoises gopherus Polyphemus at a Protected Site in Northwest Florida written by Rebecca Anne Cozad and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) are state listed as threatened throughout most of their range (and federally protected in the western-most portion), but are still facing population declines as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation. Throughout the state of Florida, an estimated 22,000 tortoises are in need of relocation as their habitat is being developed. Nokuse Plantation is a protected conservation preserve that has received nearly 4,500 of these translocated tortoises since 2006. From 2012 until 2015, 90 of these tortoises were found sick or dead at multiple enclosures on the property. Thus far, clinical signs and post-mortem findings suggest starvation as the immediate cause of death, but habitat analyses indicate these sites are suitable habitat with easy access to typical gopher tortoise forage plants. This project investigates the demographic, spatial, temporal, and environmental factors that are contributing to this mortality event and define potential predictors of mortality.
Download or read book The Effects of Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus Translocation on Movements Reproductive Activity and Body Condition of Resident and Translocated Individuals in Central Florida written by Susannah Christina Riedl and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ABSTRACT: Human-caused destruction of xeric habitats in Florida that support gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus Daudin) is occurring at a rapid rate. One conservation strategy that has been used for numerous taxa is translocation. The effects of translocation on the health, reproductive activity, and movements of translocated and resident telemetered individuals was evaluated for a population of gopher tortoises in central-Florida from 2001 to 2004. Only one of the 13 individuals released left the site during the study. The home range estimates of resident individuals were not significantly different before and after the release of the translocated individuals on the site, and all mean home ranges fit within the range of estimates reported in the literature for natural populations of gopher tortoises. Habitat use of several individual resident gopher tortoises was significantly different after the translocation events. The degree that the home ranges of the residents were overlapped by other individuals in the study was not significantly different. The spatial locations of the home ranges of resident and translocated individuals were significantly different. There was evidence of reproduction for both resident and translocated females a year after the release of the translocates. The body condition of the resident individuals was higher at the end of the study relative to the start, although this may be explained by other factors. This study illustrates some of the problems associated with studies designed to assess translocation success, namely the lack adequate baseline data for the population and the challenge of balancing the sample sizes necessary for acceptable statistical power with the mechanics of translocation. The results of this study suggest that translocation is a potentially useful conservation strategy, although there are other potential consequences of translocation that need to be considered prior to its implementation.
Download or read book The Gopher Tortoise written by Ray E. Ashton and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2014-08-28 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Full-color book for children ages 10 and up. Details the life of the gopher tortoise and how it is tied in with other animals. Also discusses how the encroachment into the gopher tortoise's habitat is affecting the environment and the tortoise.
Download or read book Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus Recovery Plan written by Wendell A. Neal and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Reintroduction of Gopher Tortoises Gopherus Polyphemus to Reclaimed Phosphate Land written by Laurie Ann Macdonald and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Lack of Plasticity in Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus Nesting Behavior and Fecundity in a Translocated Population written by Jennifer N. DeSha and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 65 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Author's abstract: Gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) are a threatened, keystone species that play important roles in upland habitats throughout the southeastern United States. Climate change could have diverse and strong effects on the fecundity and population demographics of gopher tortoises, as they are long-lived reptiles that rely on environmental temperatures for thermoregulation and sex determination. I used a population of translocated gopher tortoises at Nokuse Plantation, located in the panhandle of Florida, as a common garden experiment to assess whether plasticity of several nesting behaviors (i.e., nest temperature, depth, and orientation) and components of fecundity (i.e., clutch size, egg size, hatching success) might compensate for changes in environmental conditions. I compared nest characteristics among translocated females (from across the state of Florida) and examined how multiple measures of environmental distance, such as difference in warm season temperature between the translocation and origin sites, impacted aspects of fecundity. I found that tortoises did not exhibit plasticity and did not adjust their nesting behaviors in response to novel conditions. Tortoises that originated from climates that were more dissimilar from that of the translocation site placed their nests at different locations within the burrow apron, under differing amounts of canopy cover, and at different depths. Environmental distance of translocation also impacted hatching success, although there was no direct impact of nest site selection on hatching success, suggesting that differences in hatching success due to female origin are more a consequence of physiology (e.g., developmental processes) than female behavior. Although there was a high degree of variability in the direction of the effect of environmental distance – i.e., whether tortoises from more or less similar climates had greater hatching success – these results may indicate a strong degree of local adaptation that is still apparent even several years after translocation. These findings suggest that gopher tortoises may not be resilient to impending environmental changes, and behavior plasticity should not be expected. Effects on nest site selection, incubation temperatures, and hatching success suggest that translocation guidelines should consider climate differences when selecting relocation sites.
Download or read book Environmental Effects on Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus Burrows written by Ron Christian Sambeli and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is a keystone species that provides a habitat for hundreds of other animal species. While environmental temperatures may fluctuate, gopher tortoise burrows maintain a fairly constant temperature. This study examines data collected from 50 burrows found in Abacoa Jupiter Greenway range VIa. Variables considered when analyzing the data include weather conditions, burrow location, and whether the temperature was measured from the air, the burrow's apron, or from within the burrow. The results were compared to previous research conducted on gopher tortoises.
Download or read book Ecology and Habitat Protection Needs of Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus Populations Found on Lands Slated for Large scale Development in Florida written by James A. Cox and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Gopher Tortoise Permitting Guidelines Gopherus Polyphemus written by and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This permit system has been designed to help accomplish all four objectives of the Gopher Tortoise Management Plan by providing incentives to landowners to manage their habitat for gopher tortoises, tortoise commensals, and other native wildlife species; providing incentives to responsibly relocate and restock tortoises to protected, managed lands rather than unprotected sites; providing a new permitting system that does not allow entombment of tortoises; and providing a permitting system with regulation and enforcement sufficient to ensure compliance with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) guidelines and rules.
Download or read book Handbook on Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus written by Lori Wendland and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 71 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Are Gopher Tortosies Gopherus Polyphemus Daudin Comapatible with Cows written by Thomas William Hentges and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although we have no evidence that cattle and tortoise cannot successfully coexist, a number of circumstances prevented rigorous testing of our hypotheses, predominately the failure of the silt fence used to enclose the treatment plots. Using a trespass-proof perimeter fence would allow a better assessment of the actual interaction between the cattle and tortoises and may shed new light on the lack of recruitment and the decline of juvenile tortoises relocated to the ranch. Without recruitment of individuals back into a population, or the persistent of reproducing adults within the population, any efforts to curb the downward trend in gopher tortoise numbers by relocating tortoises to actively grazed pasture is futile.
Download or read book Gopher Tortoises Nature s Ecosystem Engineers written by Dr. Richard A. NeSmith and published by Applied Principles of Education & Learning. This book was released on 2021-07-28 with total page 59 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most people have never seen an endemic North American gopher tortoise. They have limited habits but can be found west and east of the Mississippi River. There are small regions in the American southwest, but the largest population is found in the "Deep South," particularly southeast Texas, southeast Lousiana, southern Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, southeastern South Carolina, and most of Florida. These land tortoises are threatened and federally protected. Their importance in the ecosystem is vital. They have been identified as keystone species as many plants and more than 350 other animals, rely upon the gopher tortoises for survival. Ensuring that gopher tortoises do not lose their habitats ensures that the ecosystem is healthy and vibrant. At the current rate of change, gopher tortoises will lose 20 percent of their habitat in the next 40 years.
Download or read book Demographics of Gopher Tortoises Gopherus Polyphemus Affected with Upper Respiratory Tract Disease in a South Florida Community written by Andrea Thomasson and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus Populations on Naval Air Station Cecil Field Florida written by Terry J. Doonan and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Behavioral and Disease Ecology of Gopher Tortoises Gopherus Polyphemus Post Exclusion and Relocation with a Novel Approach to Homing Determination written by Johnathan Oliver Howard Napier and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I also found that G. polyphemus engages in homing behavior, but only in males. Behavioral differences were also found between the sexes with respect to burrowing behavior. Overall health, disease prevalence, and immune response were unaffected by relocation and exclusion, nor were they statistically correlated. Signs were unreliable as etiological agents, outperformed by serological detection. I determined that the Sabal Trail pipeline as a potential stressor did not affect movement behavior, homing, nor the disease/immune profile of G. polyphemus in this study.
Download or read book Ecology of Gopher Tortoises Gopherus Polyphemus on Sanibel Island Florida written by Grace Sheryl McLaughlin and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Natural History and Management of the Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus Daudin written by Ray E. Ashton and published by Krieger Publishing Company. This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook is the first book on tortoise management and research techniques that can be applied to any species. It is designed to be the manual that can serve for certification for various institutions and State and Federal agencies. Many tricks of the trade on how to count burrows, excavate, and trap tortoises are given based on the 20 years of experience of the Ashtons. No other publication currently exists that brings together all the methods and techniques for tortoise management which can be used with other tortoises and turtles. Students and environmental consultants working with gopher tortoises and other upland species will find this handbook indispensable.
