Post‐release movement and survivorship of head‐started gopher tortoises
Abstract
ABSTRACT Gopher tortoise ( Gopherus polyphemus ) populations are declining throughout their range and recovery requires management intervention to alleviate losses. Population augmentation strategies may prove useful in recovery of depleted populations once threats are mitigated. We head‐started and soft‐released hatchlings produced from robust donor populations and evaluated their post‐release survivorship and movement for the first year following their release. During 2014 and 2015, we head‐started and released 145 tortoises, of which we radio‐tracked a subset of 41 individuals, from 2 cohorts at 2 release areas within Yuchi Wildlife Management Area in Burke County, Georgia, USA. Movement and mortality of gopher tortoises was highest in the first month after release but declined soon after. Estimated annual survivorship of our first cohort was 60.6%. Annual survivorship of our second cohort was low (7.1%) at the southeast release area but much higher (75.0%) at the northwest release area because of spatial variation in predation. Although survivorship was variable, site fidelity remained high throughout the study and no tortoise moved >122.0 m from its release location. Initial results suggest that head‐starting could prove effective as a population recovery tool, but that release strategy and predator mitigation, especially within the first month, are critical tomore »
- Authors:
-
- University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory Drawer E Aiken SC 29802 USA
- Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division 116 Rum Creek Drive Forsyth GA 31029 USA
- St. Catherines Island Foundation 182 Camelia Road Midway GA 31320 USA
- Publication Date:
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1464283
- Grant/Contract Number:
- DE‐FC09‐07SR22506
- Resource Type:
- Publisher's Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Wildlife Management
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Journal of Wildlife Management Journal Volume: 82 Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 0022-541X
- Publisher:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Citation Formats
Quinn, Daniel P., Buhlmann, Kurt A., Jensen, John B., Norton, Terry M., and Tuberville, Tracey D. Post‐release movement and survivorship of head‐started gopher tortoises. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1002/jwmg.21493.
Quinn, Daniel P., Buhlmann, Kurt A., Jensen, John B., Norton, Terry M., & Tuberville, Tracey D. Post‐release movement and survivorship of head‐started gopher tortoises. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21493
Quinn, Daniel P., Buhlmann, Kurt A., Jensen, John B., Norton, Terry M., and Tuberville, Tracey D. Sun .
"Post‐release movement and survivorship of head‐started gopher tortoises". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21493.
@article{osti_1464283,
title = {Post‐release movement and survivorship of head‐started gopher tortoises},
author = {Quinn, Daniel P. and Buhlmann, Kurt A. and Jensen, John B. and Norton, Terry M. and Tuberville, Tracey D.},
abstractNote = {ABSTRACT Gopher tortoise ( Gopherus polyphemus ) populations are declining throughout their range and recovery requires management intervention to alleviate losses. Population augmentation strategies may prove useful in recovery of depleted populations once threats are mitigated. We head‐started and soft‐released hatchlings produced from robust donor populations and evaluated their post‐release survivorship and movement for the first year following their release. During 2014 and 2015, we head‐started and released 145 tortoises, of which we radio‐tracked a subset of 41 individuals, from 2 cohorts at 2 release areas within Yuchi Wildlife Management Area in Burke County, Georgia, USA. Movement and mortality of gopher tortoises was highest in the first month after release but declined soon after. Estimated annual survivorship of our first cohort was 60.6%. Annual survivorship of our second cohort was low (7.1%) at the southeast release area but much higher (75.0%) at the northwest release area because of spatial variation in predation. Although survivorship was variable, site fidelity remained high throughout the study and no tortoise moved >122.0 m from its release location. Initial results suggest that head‐starting could prove effective as a population recovery tool, but that release strategy and predator mitigation, especially within the first month, are critical to success. © 2018 The Wildlife Society.},
doi = {10.1002/jwmg.21493},
journal = {Journal of Wildlife Management},
number = 7,
volume = 82,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Aug 12 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Sun Aug 12 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21493
Web of Science
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