Abstracts Category : Other

Habitat assessment for gopher tortoise (<i>Gopherus polyphemus</i>) and grassland birds in south Mississippi

by Nathan Andrew Stukey

I studied eight habitat types of south Mississippi from 2009-2010 to examinehabitat conditions and faunal communities associated with the presence of gopher tortoiseburrows (<i>Gopherus polyphemus</i>). Field methods included burrow surveys, vegetationsampling, mound counts, and point count surveys. Active tortoise burrow presence wasinfluenced by percent coverage of bare ground, native legumes, grass-like plants, basalarea, overstory canopy, and woody plants. Fire ant mound densities were influenced bypercent coverage of overstory canopy cover, bare ground, grass-like vegetation, andwoody plants. Northern bobwhite (<i>Colinus virginianus</i>) and Bachmans sparrow(<i>Peucaea aestivalis</i>) were detected more frequently in longleaf pine (<i>Pinus palustris</i>)dominated habitats supporting gopher tortoises. My findings will be used to address thepaucity of information related to gopher tortoise conservation on private and public landsand identify potential areas for inclusion in conservation initiatives supporting longleafpine restoration or gopher tortoise conservation in the southeastern lower coastal plain. Advisors/Committee Members: Jeanne C. Jones (chair), W. Daryl Jones (chair), Kevin M. Hunt (committee member).