WILDLIFE DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Gopherus agassizii | Desert Tortoise 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
The desert tortoise inhabits southern Nevada, extreme southwestern Utah,
southern California, southwestern Arizona, and Sonora, Mexico [7,15].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe


STATES : 


    
AZ
    
CA
    
NV
    
UT






    
MEXICO
    




BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    7  Lower Basin and Range
   12  Colorado Plateau


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K039  Blackbrush
   K041  Creosotebush
   K042  Creosotebush - bursage
   K043  Paloverde - cactus shrub
   K044  Creosotebush - tarbush
   K046  Desert: vegetation largely lacking
   K060  Mesquite savanna
   K061  Mesquite - acacia savanna


SAF COVER TYPES : 
    68  Mesquite
   242  Mesquite


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Desert tortoises inhabit dry, flat, and gravelly or sandy ground in
desert shrub communities where annual and perennial grasses are abundant
[7,15].  Tortoises frequent habitats with a mix of shrubs, forbs, and
grasses.  Some of these species include creosotebush (Larrea
tridentata), pricklypear cactus (Opuntia echinocarpa), banana yucca
(Yucca baccata), sixweeks grama (Bouteloua barbata), bush muhly
(Muhlenbergia porteri), and white bursage (Ambrosia dumosa) [22].  A few
tree species, such as Joshua tree (Yucca bevifolia) and mesquite
(Prosopis spp.), may be present also.


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Gopherus agassizii | Desert Tortoise