Gopher Tortoises
Gopher Tortoises are one of the most important and amazing species in the Southeast US. Below is a paper that I wrote about the natural history and conservation of gopher tortoises.
The Natural History and Conservation of Gopher Tortoises
Gopher tortoises (Gopherus Polyphemus) are one of the most important species in their habitat of dry sandy uplands, longleaf pine forest, and sand dunes. Gopher Tortoises share their burrows with over three hundred species in the Southeast. Their historic range extends from southern Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, the southern tip of South Carolina, and almost all of Florida. Sadly, their range has shrunk from what it was. Though they can be found in Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina they are mostly found in southern Georgia and Florida. They like to live in “scrubby” areas since the ground there is sandy with few trees and most of the trees are not close together. If the trees were close together there would not be enough sunlight for lots of grass, flowers, and cacti to grow, which are the preferred foods of the gopher tortoise. Though they are small, only up to 15 inches on average, they have a huge effect on their environment and the animals in it.
Gopher tortoises have many unique characteristics that they use to their advantage. One unique characteristic that gopher tortoises have is the shape of their front legs. Their front legs have evolved to become more flattened so they can dig more easily to expand their burrows. Their burrows are home to eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, Florida possums, armadillos, burrowing owls, eastern indigo snakes, gopher crickets, foxes, and quail. Their burrows also provide shelter from bushfires, man-made or natural. When a bushfire starts, many small animals flock to the gopher tortoise burrows to save their lives. Another unique characteristic of the gopher tortoise is the way it helps its environment. They keep saplings and other plants from getting too tall. And, due to a bad digestive system, they are not able to break down seeds, thereby spreading them around their environment via its scat.
Sadly, their population and conservation status are not what they were. Thanks to human development and habitat loss, they are threatened and have disappeared from some of their historic range. During the Great Depression people hunted and ate gopher tortoises. Though they are protected in many states, some states like Alabama still have tortoises listed as “game species”. Some people, meaning to help them, find gopher tortoises in sand dunes and put them in the ocean because they have mistaken them for sea turtles. But I believe that we can save them.
There are many ways we can help gopher tortoises. I believe that the first step to save gopher tortoises is to educate the public on what to do when you find one and what they look like. We also need to enforce laws protecting them. Some people are still illegally harvesting gopher tortoises for food. Another important thing to do is to get more zoos, aquariums, the government, and private herpetoculturists involved in saving them and to work on getting the population back up. The Florida and South Carolina Departments of Natural Resources and the Savannah River Ecology Lab all have excellent programs to help gopher tortoises. But we still have a lot of work to do if we want to save them.
They are special to me and the environment because of their importance. Though they are small, they have a huge effect on their environment and the animals in it. Without them many animals would go extinct, and the whole ecosystem would fall apart and fail. They are simply amazing reptiles that live longer than most humans. Because they share their burrows, they are incredibly important to their environment and the other species in it. They are one of the few tortoises on this continent and one of two past the Rockies, the other being the Berlandiers tortoise, more commonly known as the Texas tortoise. They are truly amazing animals who deserve our respect and protection.
In conclusion, this paper shows how gopher tortoises are threatened in most of their range, how they have many unique characteristics, how we can save them, and how their conservation status is falling. Because of humans, they were nearly driven to extinction. Since humans are the ones who harmed this species, humans need to be the ones who help them survive and thrive.
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