Reptiles have been considered by some to be of “minor importance,” and their
disappearance has been suggested to “not make much difference one way or the other”(Zim …

Populations of the Mojave Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) experienced severe
declines in abundance in the decades leading up to 1990, when the species was listed as …

Long-term studies on wildlife populations are necessary to track population abundance and
shifts in demography over time, yet such studies are difficult to plan, fund, and conduct and …

Abstract The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is responsible for reviewing the
biological status of hundreds of species to determine federal status designations under the …

Keystone species are important drivers of diversity patterns in many ecosystems. Their
effects on ecological processes are fundamental to understanding community dynamics …

Gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) populations are declining throughout the
Southeast, and high levels of predation on nests and juveniles have been suggested as a …

Recovery or sustainable management of wildlife populations often entails management of
habitat on which they depend. In this regard, turtles pose unique conservation challenges …

Population viability analyses are useful tools to predict abundance and extinction risk for
imperiled species. In southeastern North America, the federally threatened gopher tortoise …

Fire and fire management are recognized as important factors in biodiversity conservation.
Measuring species-level demographic, behavioural and population responses to different …

Patterns of burrow size, tortoise size, home range size and overlap, movement distances,
and mating rates were compared among six sites that differed in density of Gopher …