Critical Habitat Breadth for Gopherus Tortoises: A New Paradigm for Managing Threatened and Endangered Species in a Non-Stationary World

Abstract

Conserving threatened and endangered species (TES) on Department of Defense installations, without sacrificing vital military objectives, is necessarily a complex balancing act - especially given the uncertainties and risks associated with climate change. This project advances the concept of critical habitat breadth as the foundation for rigorous TES conservation planning and vulnerability assessment. Gopherus tortoises -particularly Desert Tortoise (G. agassizii) and Gopher Tortoise (G. polyphemus) - provide an excellent model system for applying the concept of critical habitat breadth because their populations have been extensively studied, and many prior translocations have been conducted which enable investigation into the inherent ability to acclimate to novel environments.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 04, 2024
Accession Number
AD1229793

Entities

People

  • Elizabeth A. Hunter
  • Ken Nussear
  • Kevin Shoemaker
  • Lora Smith
  • Margarete Walden
  • Marjorie D. Matocq
  • Matthew Aresco
  • Resit Akcakaya
  • Todd C. Esque

Organizations

  • University of Nevada, Reno

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Wetland-Land-Environmental Management.