The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is a burrowing chelonian species that is endemic to the southeastern portion of the United States. The gopher tortoise is classified as threatened throughout its entire range due mostly to habitat destruction and the consequent fragmentation of its habitat leaving small isolated gopher tortoise populations. Gopher tortoises are herbivorous reptiles and are considered to be a keystone species due to their extensive burrows, which provide shelter for more than 300 commensal species. We hypothesized that other animal species would utilize gopher tortoise burrows differently based on vegetation cover. Our preliminary work was focused within the Florida Atlantic University Preserve (FAUP), which is a 90 acre scrub habitat containing 80-100 tortoises. We randomly set up 10 cameras in the vegetation and 10 cameras in the grassland in order to identify fauna that utilized the gopher tortoise burrows at FAUP.
Results/Conclusions
We analyzed hundreds of pictures from 20 cameras from December 2015 through April 2016, and identified species in the following major vertebrate groups: mammalia, aves, reptilia, and amphibia. The mammalian species observed were: coyotes, rabbits, mice, opossums, raccoons, and squirrels. Some aves species observed were: great blue heron, loggerhead strike, burrowing owl, cowbird, northern cardinal, brown trasher, fish crow, and cattle egret. The reptilian species observed were: coachwhip, black racer, green iguana, and gopher tortoises. The amphibian species observed was the gopher frog. We found more species utilizing gopher tortoise burrows in the vegetation. These species showed several different interactions with the gopher tortoises. Some were probably just utilizing the burrow for shelter (commensals), such as the gopher frogs, rabbits, snakes, and owls. Others were predators looking to feed on animals that shares the burrow with the gopher tortoise such as the coyotes and the loggerhead strike which was observed attacking a coachwhip snake. We also observed territorial behavior by the gopher tortoise blocking the burrow entrance to prevent rabbits from entering the burrow. We are currently producing data that will help unveil the relationships between all the animal species that utilize burrows at the FAU preserve, and shed light into their relationships, many of which are assumed to be of commensal nature.