BIOLOGICAL DATA AND HABITAT REQUIREMENTS
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Gopherus polyphemus | Gopher Tortoise 



TIMING OF MAJOR LIFE HISTORY EVENTS : 
Mating season - April through June
Incubation - eggs laid shortly after mating; hatch in 102 days in 
             Georgia, 80 to 90 days in Florida, 110 days in South
             Carolina; 4 to 12 eggs laid annually; may have only
             one successful brood every 10 years
Age of Maturity - 19 to 21 years in Georgia, 10 to 15 years in
                  Florida
Lifespan - probably greater than 25 years in the wild


PREFERRED HABITAT : 
Gopher tortoises tend to dig burrows in open and sunny areas that have
patches of bare ground [3].  They inhabit dry areas where sandy,
well-drained soils persist and avoid wet, swampy areas where the water
table is less than 3 feet (1 m) below the surface.  Soils in gopher
tortoise habitats are often low in fertility but support a diversity of
grasses and forbs.  Elevations range from just above high tide to 330
feet (100 m).  Gopher tortoises inhabit seral plant communities that
have remained undisturbed for up to about 11 years.  As shade increase,
the number of tortoises decreases [3].


COVER REQUIREMENTS : 
Gopher tortoises dig burrows for hiding, nesting, and protection.  For
this, well-drained sandy soils are best.  Soils in some areas of
Louisiana are high in clay content, and burrows there tend to be much
shallower [3].  Burrows are, on average, 14 feet (4.7 m) long and 6 feet
(2 m) deep [22], but can be more than 40 feet (11 m) long and 18 feet (6
m) deep.  Depth is dependent on groundwater levels [5,8].  The
distribution of gopher tortoises is strongly correlated with soil and
vegetation types, both of which can change dramatically with an 8-inch
(20 cm) change in groundwater level [3].


FOOD HABITS : 
Gopher tortoises mainly eat grasses, leaves, fruits, and seeds, but
sometimes eat charcoal and insects [16].  Foods most frequently found in
their diets are grasses (Poaceae) and legume fruits (Fabaceae).  Other
food plants include pine needles and seeds, oak mast, persimmon
(Diospyros virgin), hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), pricklypear cactus
(Opuntia lata), chickasaw plum (Prunus augustifolia), black cherry (P.
serotina), milk-pea (Galactia spp.), yellow buttons (Balduina spp.),
aster (Chrysopsis spp), Phoebanthus spp., golden aster (Pityopsis spp.),
rattle-box (Crotalaria spp.), Chamoecrista spp., skullcap (Scutellaria
spp.), wild buckwheat (Eriogonum spp.), raspberry (Rubus spp.),
broomsedge (andropogon spp.), dogfennel, (Eupatorium compositifolium),
and wiregrass [3,8,16].


PREDATORS : 
The coachwhip snake, other snakes, fire ants (Solenopsis saevissima),
hawks (Accipiters, Buteos), raccoon (Procyon lotor), opossum (Didelphis
marsupialis), armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), skunks (Spilogale,
Mephitis), feral dog (Canis familiaris), gray fox (Urocyon
cinereoargenteus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), and man prey on gopher
tortoise eggs and young [8,13,15].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
The gopher tortoise is listed as threatened because much of its original
habitat has been developed for real-estate, agriculture, mining, and
forestry, thereby causing critical decreases in populations.  Removal of
vegetation through livestock grazing, however, may benefit tortoises by
providing bare, open areas for burrows [3].  Relocation of tortoises to
areas where they have been eradicated can be successful (i.e.
rehabiliated forest and mine lands, or areas where they have been
eradicated due to fire exclusion) [6].  The gopher tortoise is
considered a keystone species because more than 80 symbiontic species
live in and rely on its burrow for protection [5,19,20,22].  Some of
these species are rare, such as the dusky gopher frog (Rana areolata),
the pine snake (Pituophis melanoleucus), and the indigo snake
(Drymarchon corais).  By burrowing, gopher tortoises aid in returning
leached nutrients to the soil surface [8].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Gopherus polyphemus | Gopher Tortoise