Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Georgia
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Georgia Project

Assess Field- and Landscape-Level Effects of NRCS Conservation Practices on Gopher Tortoise Habitat

October 2016 - August 2020

Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

The Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) program of the Natural Resources Conservation Service provides financial incentives for private landowners to manage their lands in ways that enhance habitat suitability for wildlife species of conservation concern, including the gopher tortoise. This project has two purposes: (1) assess how well WLFW has delivered conservation benefit on enrolled properties with respect to habitat and population metrics, and (2) develop enhancements in population assessment technology to more sensitively gauge how tortoise populations respond to conservation actions in short time frames.

Presentations Presentation Date
Prebyl, T. J., J. Hepinstall-Cymerman, J. Martin, L. Smith, and C. Moore. 2017. [Poster] Assessing outcomes of conservation practices for gopher tortoise on private lands. 2017 Wildlife Research Meeting, Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division, 8 August 2017, Mansfield, GA. August 2017
Gaya, H., L. Smith, and C. Moore. 2017. Improvements to line transect distance sampling for surveying gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) populations. 2017 Wildlife Research Meeting, Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division, 8 August 2017, Mansfield, GA. August 2017
Prebyl, T. J., L. Smith, J. Martin, J. Hepinstall-Cymerman, and C. T. Moore. 2018. Identifying site characteristics that influence conservation efforts for gopher tortoise on private lands. 40th Annual Gopher Tortoise Council Meeting, 12-14 October 2018, Lake Placid, FL. October 2018
Gaya, H., L. L. Smith, and C. Moore. 2017. Improving line-transect distance sampling (LTDS) for gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) populations. Poster; The Wildlife Society 24th Annual Conference, 23-27 September 2017, Albuquerque, NM. September 2017
Prebyl, T. J., L. Smith, J. Martin, J. Hepinstall-Cymerman, and C. Moore. 2017. Evaluating private lands conservation practices for gopher tortoise and savanna-like ecosystems in the southeastern coastal plain. Poster; The Wildlife Society 24th Annual Conference, 23-27 September 2017, Albuquerque, NM. September 2017
Gaya, H., L. L. Smith, and C. T. Moore. 2017. Improving line-transect distance sampling (LTDS) for gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) populations. 39th Annual Gopher Tortoise Council Meeting, 13-15 October 2017, Edgefield, SC. October 2017
Gaya, H., L. L. Smith, and C. Moore. 2018. Where are all the baby tortoises? Enhancing line-transect distance sampling (LTDS) for gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) populations. Presentation at 2018 Annual Southeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, 22-25 February 2018, Helen, GA. February 2018
Gaya, H., B. L. Nuse, and C. T. Moore. 2018. An interesting nuisance: a Bayesian hierarchical model for distance sampling when a detection covariate is also a demographic property of interest. The Wildlife Society 25th Annual Conference, 7-11 October 2018, Cleveland, OH. October 2018
Prebyl, T. J., L. Smith, J. Martin, J. Hepinstall-Cymerman, and C. Moore. 2017. Evaluating private lands conservation practices for gopher tortoise and savanna-like ecosystems in the southeastern coastal plain. Poster; The Wildlife Society 24th Annual Conference, 23-27 September 2017, Albuquerque, NM. September 2017
Gaya, H., B. L. Nuse, and C. T. Moore. 2018. A Bayesian hierarchical model to account for bias in gopher tortoise distance sampling. 40th Annual Gopher Tortoise Council Meeting, 12-14 October 2018, Lake Placid, FL. October 2018
Gaya, H., L. L. Smith, and C. T. Moore. 2019. Baby tortoise is hiding, can you find him? Enhancing line-transect distance sampling (LTDS) for gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) populations. 2019 Annual Southeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Meeting, 14-17 February 2019, Black Mountain, NC. February 2019
Prebyl, T. J., L. Smith, J. Martin, J. Hepinstall-Cymerman, and C. T. Moore. 2019. Variations among working landscapes affect conservation outcomes for gopher tortoise in the southeastern U.S. Oral presentation at Joint Annual Conference of American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society, 29 September - 3 October 2019, Reno, NV. September 2019
Gaya, H., B. L. Nuse, T. J. Prebyl, and C. T. Moore. 2019. Assessing stability of gopher tortoise populations on working lands through line-transect distance sampling. Oral presentation at Joint Annual Conference of American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society, 29 September - 3 October 2019, Reno, NV. September 2019
Prebyl, T. J., B. L. Nuse, and C. T. Moore. 2019. A method for estimating gopher tortoise densities at spatial scales relevant for habitat studies. Oral presentation at 41st Annual Gopher Tortoise Council Meeting, 15-17 November 2019, Gulf Shores, AL. November 2019
Gaya, H., B. L. Nuse, T. J. Prebyl, and C. T. Moore. 2019. Assessing stability of gopher tortoise populations through line-transect distance sampling. Oral presentation at 41st Annual Gopher Tortoise Council Meeting, 15-17 November 2019, Gulf Shores, AL. November 2019
Theses and Dissertations Publication Date
Gaya, H. E. 2019. Enhancing line-transect distance sampling to increase detectability of gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) in population surveys. M.S. Thesis, University of Georgia, Athens. May 2019