Download or read book Long term Population Ecology and Movement Patterns of Gopher Tortoises Gopherus Polyphemus in Southwest Georgia written by Alexander David Wright and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation have led to an estimated 80% range-wide decline of gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) populations across the Southeastern Coastal Plain. Recently, the gopher tortoise was identified as a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act in the eastern part of its range. To support an adaptive landscape planning and decision framework for gopher tortoise conservation, I examined the population dynamics and movement patterns of four gopher tortoise populations on a large private reserve in southwestern Georgia, where tortoises were previously marked/recaptured from 1995-2000. It is critical to understand how tortoise populations vary in space and time at large spatial and temporal scales to protect a long-lived species, such as the gopher tortoise, into perpetuity. With further understanding of the long-term population ecology and movement patterns, we can better evaluate the roles of emigration and survival within populations to inform reserve design and decision analysis for the species' conservation.

Download or read book Patterns of Movement Burrow Use and Reproduction in a Population of Gopher Tortoises gopherus Polyphemus written by Jeannine Annette Ott and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

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 Population Biology of the Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus in Southeast Georgia written by Douglas N. Jones and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Population Biology of the Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus in Southeast Georgia written by Douglas N. Jones and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Spatial Ecology of the Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus in Coastal Sand Dune Habitat written by Anthony Yin Kun Lau and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Coastal sand dunes may serve as short-term alternative recipient sites for Gopher Tortoises affected by human development.

Download or read book Species Profile Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus on Military Installations in the Southeastern United States written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is the only tortoise that occurs east of the Mississippi River. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has separated the species into two main populations. The western population (southwest Mississippi and southeast Louisiana) is Federally listed as threatened; the eastern population, which occurs in southern Alabama and Georgia, extreme southwestern South Carolina, and most of Florida, is a former candidate for listing as threatened. Gopher tortoises occupy a wide range of open, upland habitats with a well-drained, deep sandy substrate, primarily longleaf pine-xerophytic oak woodlands (sandhills). They have been documented on several military installations in the Southeast. This report is one of a series of 'Species Profiles' being developed for threatened, endangered, and sensitive species inhabiting southeastern United States plant communities. The work is being conducted as part of the Department of Defense (DoD) Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP). The report is designed to supplement information provided in plant community management reports for major United States plant communities found on military installations. Information provided on the gopher tortoise includes status, life history and ecology, habitat requirements, impacts and cause of decline, management and protection, and inventory and monitoring.

Download or read book Patterns of Survival and Movement in Gopher Tortoises Gopherus Polyphemus During the First Year of Life written by David A. Pike and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Gopher Tortoise Habitat Management Strategies and Options written by Gopher Tortoise Council. Meeting and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Ecology Abstracts written by and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 890 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Demography of Two Insular Populations of the Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus Daudin in a Reservoir in Southwestern Georgia written by Edward Earl Wester and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Physiological and Behavioral Ecology of Juvenile Gopher Tortoises written by Thomas Andrew Radzio and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few terrestrial vertebrate ectotherms are strictly herbivorous, and those that are tend to inhabit tropical or warm desert environments, presumably reflecting thermal constraints on digestion of plant matter via fermentation. However, the imperiled gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) of the southeastern United States is solely herbivorous and often occupies shaded forests. Its ancestral environment is hypothesized to have consisted largely of warmer semi-open canopy longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests, but fire suppression and other factors have led to grand scale conversion of this highly biodiverse ecosystem to more shaded habitats. I investigated thermoregulatory strategies, thermal constraints on growth, and antipredator behavior of neonate, hatchling, and juvenile gopher tortoises in a longleaf pine forest of southwest Georgia. My findings indicate young gopher tortoises exploit most thermal opportunities available at burrows, basking increases growth rates, and low environmental temperatures likely constrain growth throughout the active season. Extensive basking begins at the neonate stage, where young exhibit a high-basking, rapid-growth strategy that exposes them to predation risk during thermoregulatory activity, but is presumably optimal overall. Although young bask extensively, their body temperatures may be particularly influenced by shade because they limit this activity to just in front of burrows. The field and laboratory data also suggest that tortoise body temperatures and thermosensitivity of growth are such that small changes in environmental temperature, including those that could be incurred by increased shading or climate change can substantially impact growth rates and time spent at small body sizes, where individuals are most susceptible to predators. Although young tortoises can increase growth rates by basking, surface activity also increases exposure to predators. Individuals appear to manage predation risk by limiting most basking to burrow aprons and entrances, remaining vigilant, and quickly hiding belowground in response to potential predators. Simulated predator approaches on basking hatchlings and juveniles revealed very long flight initiation distances, which increased strongly with size/age, and apparent use of vibrations (aerial or ground) to detect and avoid danger, providing a possible ecological function for uniquely large otolith ear bones characteristic of this species. Consistent with the hypothesis that young exploit most thermal opportunities available at burrows to maximize growth, disturbed individuals hid for short durations, especially when using cool burrows. Similarly, surface activity during the hour following disturbance correlated negatively with burrow temperature. Tortoises raised in captivity during the first year of their lives for thermal physiology experiments also exhibited a high-basking, rapid-growth strategy and generally normal antipredator responses following hard release back into the field. Taken together, behavior, physiology, and environmental temperatures indicate warmer environments can reduce neonate–juvenile exposure to predators by increasing growth rates and, at least during certain times of the year, decreasing surface activity.

Download or read book Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting Abstracts written by Ecological Society of America. Meeting and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Conservation Biology of Tortoises written by IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group and published by IUCN. This book was released on 1989 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

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 Growth and Maturity of the Gopher Tortoise in Southwestern Georgia written by J. Larry Landers and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 29 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Nesting Ecology Female Home Range and Activity Patterns and Hatchling Survivorship in the Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus written by Lora L. Smith and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: