Download or read book An Investigation of Habitat Suitability Factors and Their Interactions for Predicting Gopher Tortoise Habitat written by Abigail V. Lavallin and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis evaluates the interaction between four habitat factors vital to the gopher tortoise in Florida. Federally and state listed as threatened throughout its entire range, the gopher tortoise is vital to protect, not only for itself individually but its burrows provide an essential habitat to over 300 species making it a key stone species within its environment. Historic habitat modeling methods are reviewed for the gopher tortoise to highlight the gap on this topic. This research expanded on the methods utilized by Baskaran et al. (2006) evaluating the soil, landcover, percentage of canopy cover and the depth to water table habitat factors key to the gopher tortoise. Statistical analysis was used to establish the interactions using a regression type analysis of the presence/absence data relative to the four factors. A probability map for the study site was then computed from the results. The Analysis of Deviance results for the statistical model with land cover type as an independent variable and a 3-way interaction term for the other factors found that the land cover term was significant as an independent variable and the 3-way interaction of the other 3 habitat factors was significant. This result demonstrates that there is in fact an interaction between the habitat factors influencing the location of gopher tortoises. This finding is significant in future gopher tortoise research as it indicates that habitat factors evaluated individually may not be as important as the interactions between the factors. By understanding the interactions between the habitat factors, the FWC can work alongside other agencies to increase and improve these key habitat areas preventing them from destruction. The map results also help pinpoint those fragmented potential habitat sites which are most at risk from full destruction and loss allowing agencies the work on protecting and expanding the suitable habitat landscape in order to enhance and restore the gopher tortoise populations residing there, helping them to maintain the gopher tortoises function as a keystone species
Download or read book Determining Habitat Preferences of the Juvenile Gopher Tortoise Gopherus Polyphemus Using Spatially Modeled Vegetation on a Central Florida Sandhill written by Kristan Marie Nicole Raymond and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ABSTRACT: Public and private conservation areas are becoming increasingly important to the continued survival of the gopher tortoise, making it imperative that land managers know the specific habitat requirements of juvenile gopher tortoises because recruitment is key to species persistence. Little is currently known about environmental factors that underlie hatchling and juvenile survival and recruitment in gopher tortoise populations. Because of the short duration and distance of juvenile tortoise foraging journeys, food availability, thermoregulatory conditions, and refugia near the burrow may considerably affect juvenile growth and survival. This two-year study of a central Florida sandhill examines the spatial relationship between juvenile gopher tortoise burrows and the surrounding habitat. Gopher tortoise burrow positions, activity, and width were recorded in four complete surveys of the 4-hectare study area. Coincident with three of the burrow surveys, vegetation and structural habitat characteristics, such as forb and canopy cover, were surveyed in a uniform grid design. Vegetation cover was reclassified using habitat suitability functions (HSFs) derived from qualitative literature values and combined into habitat suitability indices (HSIs) to model the relationships between habitat variables and the likelihood of juvenile gopher tortoise presence. Chi-squared tests and spatial point pattern analysis were used to validate and identify well-forming models. In general, the best performing HSI models for the juvenile gopher tortoise were those that incorporated all three gopher tortoise life requisites in a compensatory relationship (geometric mean): thermoregulation (total high canopy, bare ground, or litter), predation (oak mid-canopy), and food (forb or wiregrass). The models could be improved by using the observed relative abundance of juvenile burrows in each vegetation cover class to modify the HSFs. These methods will help identify habitat characteristics associated with active juvenile gopher tortoise burrows that can be used by public and private land managers to improve existing tortoise habitat and to identify high-quality habitat for future preserves.
Download or read book Habitat Structure and the Dispersion of Gopher Tortoises on a Nature Preserve written by Mary Catherine Stewart and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
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 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 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 Red cockaded Woodpecker written by Ralph Costa and published by Surrey, B.C. : Hancock House. This book was released on 2004 with total page 754 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Populations of the red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) have experienced massive declines since European colonization of North America. This is due to extensive habitat loss and alteration. Logging of old-growth pine forests and alteration of the fire regime throughout the historic range of the species were the primary causes of population decline. Listing of the red-cockaded woodpecker under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, and increased emphasis on management of non-game species have resulted in efforts to recover remnant populations of the red-cockaded woodpecker in many parts of its historic range. Due to extensive research and adaptive management initiatives much is now known about the elements required for both short- and long-term management of viable populations of red-cockaded woodpeckers. A short-term strategy is crucial because currently available habitat, in nearly all populations, is poor in 1 or more critical respects. Consequently, almost all populations require immediate attention in the short term, to insure suitable midstory and understory conditions, adequate availability of suitable cavities, and restoration of demographic viability through improvements in number and distribution of breeding groups. Management techniques including artificial cavities, cavity entrance restrictors, translocation of birds, prescribed fire, and mechanical and chemical control of woody vegetation are available to achieve these needs. In the long term, cost-effective management of red-cockaded woodpecker populations requires a timber management program and prescribed fire regime that will produce and maintain the stand structure characteristic of high quality nesting and foraging habitat, so that additional intensive management specific to the woodpeckers is no longer necessary. Timber management that achieves this goal and still allows substantial timber harvest is feasible. The implementation of a red-cockaded woodpecker management strategy, as outlined above, represents appropriate ecosystem management in the fire-maintained pine ecosystems of the southeastern United States and will ultimately benefit a great number of additional species of plants and animals adapted to this ecosystem.
Download or read book North American Tortoises written by R. Bruce Bury and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Mammals of the Eastern United States written by John O. Whitaker and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-15 with total page 623 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The authors have done a superb job of distilling a vast amount of information on the biology of the terrestrial mammals of the eastern United States in a style that will not only satisfy the expert's need for accurate data but will also appeal to students and others interested in natural history." —James N. Layne, Archbold Biological Station In their definitive work on eastern mammals, John O. Whitaker, Jr., and W. J. Hamilton, Jr., vividly convey their sheer delight at the variety and abundance of mammalian life. They have brought together a wealth of biological information and applied a biological subspecies concept to the mammals of the eastern United States. Their research extends "from the high reaches of Mount Katahdin in northern Maine, where water shrews and moose hold company," to the unglaciated hills of southern Indiana, where pygmy shrews (each weighing less than a dime) lived undetected until 1981. From there, they reach to "the cypress swamps of lower Florida, where the spoor of the mountain lion may be seen."*Describes the animals, their behavior, and dispersion in all 27 states east of the Mississippi River.*Almost entirely rewritten, this edition provides an abundance of scientific information in combination with anecdotes, field notes, and an underlying reverence for the fragile diversity of animal life. *Illustrations include 110 range maps, 167 black-and-white photographs, and 92 color images.*Covers 121 species, 17 more than in the previous edition. *Uses a biological subspecies concept, showing the results of evolution through differentiation. *Provides keys to orders and genera, anatomical line drawings. *Summarizes information on endangered and threatened species for each of the eastern states. *Lists state mammal books in the literature section.
Download or read book Dissertation Abstracts International written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 848 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Desert Tortoise Mojave Population Recovery Plan written by and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Interaction Between Roadways and Wildlife Ecology written by Gary L. Evink and published by Transportation Research Board. This book was released on 2002 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 305: Interaction Between Roadways and Wildlife Ecology summarizes existing information related to roadway planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance practices being used successfully and unsuccessfully, nationally and internationally, to accommodate wildlife ecology given the challenging background of rapid growth and diminishing natural resources.
Download or read book Amphibians and Reptiles of Georgia written by John B. Jensen and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Featuring more than 475 full-color photographs and 182 maps, this comprehensive guide to the state's diverse herpetofauna makes accessible a wealth of information about 170 species of frogs, salamanders, crocodilians, lizards, snakes, and turtles, including species attributes, behavior, life cycles, habitat, and more.
Download or read book Behavioral Approaches to Conservation in the Wild written by Janine R. Clemmons and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1997-01-28 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Investigates the role animal behavior has to play in the conservation of animals in the wild.
Download or read book Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change written by David B. Lindenmayer and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2013-02-22 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Habitat loss and degradation that comes as a result of human activity is the single biggest threat to biodiversity in the world today. Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change is a groundbreaking work that brings together a wealth of information from a wide range of sources to define the ecological problems caused by landscape change and to highlight the relationships among landscape change, habitat fragmentation, and biodiversity conservation. The book: synthesizes a large body of information from the scientific literature considers key theoretical principles for examining and predicting effects examines the range of effects that can arise explores ways of mitigating impacts reviews approaches to studying the problem discusses knowledge gaps and future areas for research and management Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change offers a unique mix of theoretical and practical information, outlining general principles and approaches and illustrating those principles with case studies from around the world. It represents a definitive overview and synthesis on the full range of topics that fall under the widely used but often vaguely defined term "habitat fragmentation."
Download or read book Ecosystems of Florida written by Ronald L. Myers and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 1990 with total page 765 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between roughly 25 and 31 degrees north latitude, a combination of flat topography, poor soils, and limited surface water produce deserts nearly everywhere on earth. In Florida, however, these conditions support a lavish biota, more diverse than that of any other state east of the Mississippi. In this first comprehensive guide to the state's natural resources in sixty years, thirty top scholars describe the character, relationships, and importance of Florida's ecosystems, the organisms that inhabit them, the forces that maintain them, and the agents that threaten them. From pine flatwoods to coral reef, Ecosystems of Florida provides a detailed, comprehensive, authoritative account of the peninsular state's complex, fragile environments.
Download or read book Monitoring Animal Populations and Their Habitats written by Brenda McComb and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2010-03-11 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the face of so many unprecedented changes in our environment, the pressure is on scientists to lead the way toward a more sustainable future. Written by a team of ecologists, Monitoring Animal Populations and Their Habitats: A Practitioner’s Guide provides a framework that natural resource managers and researchers can use to design monitoring programs that will benefit future generations by distilling the information needed to make informed decisions. In addition, this text is valuable for undergraduate- and graduate-level courses that are focused on monitoring animal populations. With the aid of more than 90 illustrations and a four-page color insert, this book offers practical guidance for the entire monitoring process, from incorporating stakeholder input and data collection, to data management, analysis, and reporting. It establishes the basis for why, what, how, where, and when monitoring should be conducted; describes how to analyze and interpret the data; explains how to budget for monitoring efforts; and discusses how to assemble reports of use in decision-making. The book takes a multi-scaled and multi-taxa approach, focusing on monitoring vertebrate populations and upland habitats, but the recommendations and suggestions presented are applicable to a variety of monitoring programs. Lastly, the book explores the future of monitoring techniques, enabling researchers to better plan for the future of wildlife populations and their habitats. Monitoring Animal Populations and Their Habitats: A Practitioner’s Guide furthers the goal of achieving a world in which biodiversity is allowed to evolve and flourish in the face of such uncertainties as climate change, invasive species proliferation, land use expansion, and population growth.
