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 Species Profile Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus on Military Installations in the Southeastern United States written by Dawn S. Wilson and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Species Profile Loggerhead Shrike Lanius Ludovicianus on Military Installations in the Southeastern United States written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The loggerhead shrike (Lanius Iudovlcianus) is a strictly North American passerine experiencing population declines throughout its range. It is a former candidate for listing as Threatened or Endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Shrikes are well-known for their behavior of impaling their prey on thorns and barbed wire. There are two subspecies that occur east of the Mississippi River, a resident subspecies and a rarer migrant subspecies. Shrikes breed throughout the southeastern United States, except for the Appalachian Mountain region and the eastern portions of North Carolina and Virginia. Loggerhead shrikes prefer open country, such as pastures with fence rows, old orchards, and mowed roadsides, where they feed on a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate prey. Longleaf pine savannas and open, mature stands of loblolly pine-shortleaf pine also provide suitable habitat for the shrike in the Southeast. Shrikes have been documented and are locally common 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 loggerhead shrike includes status, life history and ecology, habitat requirements, impacts and cause of decline, management and protection, and inventory and monitoring.
Download or read book Existing Geospatial Knowledge of Gopher Tortoise Population and Abundance written by William D. Meyer and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Habitat Selection by the Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) occurs in the southeastern Coastal Plain and has experienced widespread decline due to habitat loss and other human impacts. The largest remaining populations occur on private lands and military installations. Proper management at these sites will be critical to the success of the species. The goal of this study was to determine the response of gopher tortoises to forestry management practices commonly implemented in the management of the redcockaded woodpecker. We monitored habitat use of individual tortoises at four study sites with different ownership and management scenarios: Fort Gordon (military installation, winter burning), Savannah River Site (federal defense facility, winter burning, translocated population), Tillman Sand Ridge (state wildlife preserve, summer burning), and a private hunting preserve (no management). Habitat data were collected to characterize typical canopy and herbaceous vegetation of each site. Data were collected at active burrows; the anecdotal belief that tortoises select the most open habitat available was confirmed. The preferred habitat density appears to be in the range of 40 percent canopy cover, a value compatible with current woodpecker management guidelines. Results will be used to develop recommendations for the concurrent management of gopher tortoises and red-cockaded woodpeckers.
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 Ecologist Developed Spatially Explicit Dynamic Landscape Models written by James D. Westervelt and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-04-14 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is written for ecologists interested in capturing their understandings of how natural systems work in software – to help inform their work and communicate the consequences of proposed management plans. Historically, ecologists had to rely on the skills of trained computer programmers to modeling natural systems, but now a new generation of software is allowing ecologists to directly capture their understandings of systems in software. This book is a compilation of spatially explicit simulation models developed by ecologists and planners without any formal computer programming skills. Readers will be inspired to believe that they too can create similar models of the systems with which they are familiar.
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 Biology and Conservation of North American Tortoises written by David C. Rostal and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2014-08 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most comprehensive book ever published on North America's native tortoises. Tortoises, those unmistakable turtles, evolved from a lineage that split off from the familiar pond turtles roughly 100 million years ago. Over time, these plant-eating land turtles spread around the world, growing to an enormous size (depending on the species) and living so long that they have become the stuff of legends. By most accounts, they are indeed the longest-lived of the turtles, with good records suggesting individuals may live as long as 180 years (anecdotal records suggest that some reach ages of 200 years or more). Providing the first comprehensive treatment of North America’s tortoises, Biology and Conservation of North American Tortoises brings together leading experts to give an overview of tortoise morphology, taxonomy, systematics, paleontology, physiology, ecology, behavior, reproduction, diet, growth, health, and conservation. The contributors carefully combine their own expertise and observations with results from studies conducted by hundreds of other researchers. The result is a book that belongs in the library of every herpetologist. Contributors Gustavo Aguirre L. Linda J. Allison Matthew J. Aresco Roy C. Averill-Murray Joan E. Berish Kristin H. Berry Dennis M. Bramble K. Kristina Drake Taylor Edwards Todd C. Esque Richard Franz Craig Guyer J. Scott Harrison Sharon M. Hermann J. Howard Hutchison Elliott R. Jacobson Valerie M. Johnson Richard T. Kazmaier Earl D. McCoy Philip A. Medica Robert W. Murphy Henry R. Mushinsky Kenneth E. Nussear Michael P. O’Connor Thomas A. Radzio David C. Rostal Lora L. Smith James R. Spotila Craig B. Stanford C. Richard Tracy Tracey D. Tuberville Michael Tuma Thane Wibbels
Download or read book Snake in the Grass written by Larry Perez and published by Pineapple Press Inc. This book was released on 2012 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nonnative Burmese python, one of the largest snakes on the planet, is now reproducing freely in south Florida's River of Grass.
Download or read book Field Test of Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus Population Estimation Techniques written by William D. Meyer and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus Populations written by Deborah M. Epperson and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Introduction to Forestry and Natural Resources written by Donald L. Grebner and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2021-01-19 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction to Forestry and Natural Resources, Second Edition, presents a broad, completely updated overview of the profession of forestry. The book details several key fields within forestry, including forest management, economics, policy, utilization and forestry careers. Chapters deal specifically with forest regions of the world, landowners, forest products, wildlife habitats, tree anatomy and physiology, and forest disturbances and health. These topics are ideal for undergraduate introductory courses and include numerous examples and questions for students to ponder. There is also a section dedicated to forestry careers. Unlike other introductory forestry texts, which focus largely on forest ecology rather than practical forestry concepts, this book encompasses the economic, ecological and social aspects, thus providing a uniquely balanced text. The wide range of experience of the contributing authors equips them especially well to identify missing content from other texts in the area and address topics currently covered in corresponding college courses. Covers the application of forestry and natural resources around the world with a focus on practical applications and graphical examples Describes basic techniques for measuring and evaluating forest resources and natural resources, including fundamental terminology and concepts Includes management policies and their influence at the local, national and international levels
Download or read book Analysis of Gopher Tortoise Population Estimation Techniques written by Raymond R. Carthy and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 35 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 Response of Gopher Tortoises to Habitat Manipulation by Prescribed Burning Can Forested Areas Adjacent to Training Areas Be Improved written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is a terrestrial reptile that was once quite plentiful throughout the Southeastern United States from South Carolina into Louisiana. However, because of factors such as habitat loss to agriculture and urbanization, and human and animal predation, their numbers have been in decline for the past several decades. In addition to population decline throughout its range, the tortoise has maintained only a limited, precarious existence in extreme southern South Carolina and extreme eastern Louisiana. Camp Shelby, Mississippi, supports one of the largest tortoise populations within the federally listed, western range of the tortoise. However, within the military use areas, the animal shows a habitat preference for the artificially maintained training openings in the forest, placing it at greater risk for accidental injury. This report describes attempts that have been made to determine what type and degree of habitat changes will be necessary to make more suitable tortoise habitat available.
Download or read book The Role of Gopher Tortoise Burrows Gopherus Polyphemus in Shaping Herpetofaunal Diversity in the Sandhills of Southeast Georgia written by Amy Dawn Gaskell and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Author's abstract: Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) are known to have large numbers of invertebrate and vertebrate species associated with their burrows. I compared herpetofaunal species diversity and richness at Gopher Tortoise burrows and random points not near burrows on a sandhill in Southeast Georgia. I also compared habitat structure between burrows and random arrays. Trapping took place from March 1, 2007 to August 30, 2007. Species richness for all months combined was significantly higher at Gopher Tortoise burrows than random arrays (Random = 3.60 " 0.43, Burrow = 5.20 " 0.57). Species diversity was not significantly different between burrow and random arrays; however, there was a trend showing higher diversity at burrows (Random = 0.67 " 0.08, Burrow = 0.78 " 0.06). Species diversity and richness were analyzed separately for each month. Species diversity and richness did not differ between months (March August) or between arrays. Percent canopy cover and plant species richness were significantly lower at Gopher Tortoise burrows, and there was a trend towards more ground cover at burrows as well. The results of this study show that species may take refuge in the burrow of the Gopher Tortoise, especially when temperatures are relatively low. This study has provided some evidence to support the status of the Gopher Tortoise as a keystone species in sandhill habitats.
