 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
25th Annual Meeting and Symposium of the
Desert Tortoise Council, April 21-24, 2000
Abstracts
Proposed Conservation Plan for a Small, Isolated Gopher Tortoise Population on a South Carolina State Natural Preserve
Tracey D. Tuberville1, J. W. Gibbons1,
and Stephen H. Bennett2
1Savannah River Ecology Laboratory,
Aiken, SC
2South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
The gopher tortoise is a State Endangered species in South Carolina and is probably the state's most endangered reptile. In addition, the northernmost population of gopher tortoises occurs in Aiken County, SC and is believed to be in serious decline. Therefore, this population is significant due to the rarity of the species and its location. Evidence is anecdotal, but compelling, that there are few adult tortoises to be found at this colony site. SCDNR's Heritage Trust program has acquired 1395 acres at this site and is managing to restore the longleaf pine-wiregrass habitat required by the tortoise on the preserve. We believe that, despite the efforts to restore habitat, the tortoise population will likely continue to decline unless conservation measures, potentially including population manipulation, aimed at recovering this population are not implemented. As an important step towards developing a site-specific recovery plan for gopher tortoises on the Aiken County preserve, we will evaluate and present the potential conservation options for review and comment by participants of the Desert Tortoise Council meeting.