Wednesday, 9 November 2005 - 9:15 AM
213-1

Installation Forest Management for the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker: How Does It Affect Gopher Tortoise Use of the Forest?.

Harold Balbach1, Tracey Tuberville2, Whitfield Gibbons2, Steve Bennett3, Kurt Buhlmann3, Rebecca Sharitz2, and John Nestor2. (1) US Army CERL-CN, PO Box 9005, Champaign, IL 61826-9005, (2) Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, PO Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, (3) South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, PO Box 167, Columbia, SC 29202

The Army has undertaken massive effort in the last decade to shift forest management at its Southeastern installations from a production basis to one focused on improving habitat for the Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis). Many other species share large parts of this habitat, the Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) being one of the most visible. While it has been assumed that these actions generally benefit the tortoise, quantification of tortoise habitat utilization across varying forest management regimes was warranted so that future management planning could specifically address tortoise success as well as that of the woodpecker. We monitored habitat use of individual tortoises by radio-tracking adult gopher tortoises at four study sites with different ownership and management scenarios: Ft. Gordon (military installation, winter burn), Savannah River Site (federal defense facility, winter burn, translocated population), Tillman Sand Ridge (state wildlife preserve, summer burn), and a private hunting preserve (no management). Fifty-nine tortoises were tracked 2 or 3 times weekly for two years. Canopy cover, tree density, basal area, and herbaceous vegetation categories were used to characterize each study site overall. Similar data were collected at active burrows to compare “tortoise-selected” vs. “typically-available” habitat. Movement and burrow use patterns of tortoises were compared among the four study sites and related to the observed habitat parameters. The tortoises normally selected burrow sites which were more open than typical for the stand except where the canopy cover was very sparse already. This suggests that woodpecker management generally will support tortoise habitat needs, although the prescriptions may not be identical.

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