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

Georgia Project


A Spatially Explicit Population Modeling Framework to Support Conservation Decision Making for Gopher Tortoises in Georgia

July 2012 - June 2017


Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • CRU Program
  • Georgia Department of Natural Resources

Through a combination of meta-analysis and targeted field work, we propose to construct models that combine spatially explicit population processes and landscape elements to predict response of gopher tortoise populations to conservation actions. Probabilities of patch colonization and patch abandonment could be modeled as functions of the local population distribution, habitat and landscape attributes, and assessments of connectivity. Some of the parameters may be obtained from the literature or existing data sources; alternatively, some model parameters may quantified from targeted monitoring that we conduct. Where no information exists at all for a critical parameter, competing models could be developed around plausible values of the parameter. Over time, as conservation actions are carried out and their results are assessed, evidence will accumulate to better inform these models.

Technical Publications Publication Date
Nuse, B. L., R. L. Bormann, J. Hepinstall-Cymerman, and C. T. Moore. 2017. Habitat models and predictions for gopher tortoises in Georgia. Final Report to USGS Cooperative Research Units Program. December 2017
Presentations Presentation Date
Bormann, R., J. Hepinstall-Cymerman, B. Nuse, C. Moore, and M. Elliott. 2015. (Poster) Modeling gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) distribution in Georgia. 37th Annual Gopher Tortoise Council Meeting, 16-18 October 2015, Covington, LA. October 2015
Bormann, R., J. Hepinstall-Cymerman, L. German, J. Rice, C. Moore, and M. Elliott. 2014. (Poster) Modeling gopher tortoise habitat and habitat connectivity in Georgia, and analyzing the role of private landowners in their conservation. 36th Annual Gopher Tortoise Council Meeting, 17-19 October 2014, Albany, GA. October 2014
Hepinstall-Cymerman, J., R. Bormann, B. Nuse, C. Moore, and M. Elliott. 2016. Mapping gopher tortoise habitat in Georgia using multi-season Landsat imagery and multiple statistical modeling techniques. The Wildlife Society 23rd Annual Conference, 15-19 October 2016, Raleigh, NC. October 2016
Hepinstall-Cymerman, J., T. Prebyl, B. Nuse, C. Moore, and R. Bormann. 2017. Modeling gopher tortoise habitat and habitat connectivity in Georgia using multi-season Landsat imagery and Circuitscape. US-IALE 2017 Annual Meeting, 9-13 April 2017, Baltimore, MD. April 2017
Hepinstall-Cymerman, J., T. Prebyl, B. Nuse, and C. Moore. 2017. Predicting gopher tortoise habitat connectivity in Georgia from forest structure, soils, and land cover. The Wildlife Society 24th Annual Conference, 23-27 September 2017, Albuquerque, NM. September 2017
Hepinstall-Cymerman, J., T. Prebyl, B. Nuse, and C. Moore. 2018. Predicting changes in gopher tortoise habitat connectivity in Georgia, USA. Presentation at US-IALE 2018 Annual Meeting, 8-12 April 2018, Chicago, IL. April 2018