Effects of wind energy production on growth, demography, and survivorship of a Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) population in Southern California with comparisons to natural populations

Herpetological Conservation and Biology

Volumn 6, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 161-174

  Lovich, Jeffrey E ^a   Ennen, Joshua R ^a,b   Madrak, Sheila ^c   Meyer, Kathie ^d   Loughran, Caleb ^a   Bjurlin, Curtis ^e   Arundel, Terry ^a   Turner, Wendy ^f   Jones, Cristina ^g   Groenendaal, Gayle M ^h  

^a NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b MARYVILLE COLLEGE   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^d USDA FOREST SERVICE   (United States)

^e Wind Capital Group   (United States)

^f ECORP Consulting Inc   (United States)

^g ARIZONA GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT   (United States)

^h NONE

Author keywords

Demography; Desert tortoise; Growth; Renewable energy; Survivorship; Wind energy

Indexed keywords

GOPHERUS AGASSIZII; TESTUDINIDAE;

EID: 80052394642     PISSN: None     EISSN: 19317603     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (91)

1. Andrews, R.M. 1982. Patterns of growth in reptiles. Pp. 273-320 In Biology of the Reptilia, Vol. 13. Gans, C. (Ed.). Academic Press, New York, New York, USA.
2. Arendt, J.D. 1997. Adaptive intrinsic growth rates: an integrative approach across taxa. Quarterly Review of Biology 72:149-177.
3. Aresco, M.J., and C. Guyer. 1999. Growth of the tortoise Gopherus polyphemus in Slash Pine plantations of southcentral Alabama. Herpetologica 55:499-506
4. Averill-Murray, R.C. 2002. Reproduction of Gopherus agassizii in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 4:295-301.
5. Averill-Murray, R.C., A.P. Woodman, and J.M. Howland. 2002. Population ecology of the Desert Tortoise in Arizona. Pp. 109-134 In The Sonoran Desert Tortoise: Natural History, Biology and Conservation. Van Devender, T.R. (Ed.). University of Arizona Press and The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
6. Barry, J.P., and M.J. Tegner. 1990. Inferring demographic processes from size-frequency distributions: simple models indicate specific patterns of growth and mortality. Fishery Bulletin 88:13-19.
7. Beatley, J.C. 1974. Phenological events and their environmental triggers in Mojave Desert ecosystems. Ecology 55:856-863.
8. Berry, K.H. 1976. A comparison of size classes and sex ratios in four populations of the Desert Tortoise. Pp. 38-50 In The Desert Tortoise Council Proceedings of 1976 Symposium. Engberg, N.J., S. Allan, and R.L. Young (Eds.). Desert Tortoise Council, Long Beach, California, USA.
9. Berry, K.H. 1986. Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) research in California, 1976-1985. Herpetologica 42:62-67
10. Berry, K.H., and P. Medica. 1995. Desert Tortoises in the Mojave and Colorado Deserts. Pp. 135-137 In Our living resources: a report to the nation on the distribution, abundance, and health of U.S. plants, animals, and ecosystems. LaRoe, E.T., G.S. Farris, C.E. Puckett, P.D. Doran, and M.J. Mac. (Eds.). U.S. Department of the Interior, National Biological Service, Washington, D.C., USA.
11. Berry, K.H., T.Y. Bailey, and K.M. Anderson. 2006. Attributes of Desert Tortoise populations at the National Training Center, central Mojave Desert, California, USA. Journal of Arid Environments 67:165-191.
12. Bjorndal, K.A., A.B. Bolten, and M.Y. Chaloupka. 2000. Green Turtle somatic growth model: evidence for density dependence. Ecological Applications 10:269-282.
13. Boarman, W.I. 2003. Managing a subsidized predator population: reducing common raven predation on Desert Tortoises. Environmental Management 32:205-217.
14. Bowers, J.E. 2005. El Niño and displays of springflowering annuals in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 132:38-49.
15. Brooks, M. 1995. Benefits of protective fencing to plant and rodent communities of the western Mojave Desert, California. Environmental Management 19:65-74.
16. Burk, J.H. 1977. Sonoran Desert. Pp. 869-889 In Terrestrial Vegetation of California. Barbour, M.G., and J. Major (Eds.). John Wiley and Sons, New York, New York, USA.
17. Bury, R.B., and P.S. Corn. 1995. Have Desert Tortoises undergone a long-term decline in abundance? Wildlife Society Bulletin 23:41-47.
18. Bury, R.B., and D.J. Germano (Eds.). 1994. Biology of North American Tortoises. USDI, Fish and Wildlife Research 13. Pp. 204.
19. Bury, R.B., and R.A. Luckenbach. 2002. Comparison of Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) in an unused and off-road vehicle area in the Mojave Desert. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 4:457-463.
20. Bury, R.B., D.J. Germano, and G.W. Bury. 2010. Population structure and growth of the turtles Actinemys marmorata from the Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion: age, not size, matters. Copeia 2010:443-451.
21. Case, T.J. 1978. On the evolution and adaptive significance of postnatal growth rates in the terrestrial vertebrates. Quarterly Review of Biology 53:243-282.
22. Chapman, D.G., and D.S. Robson. 1960. The analysis of a catch curve. Biometrics 16:354-368.
23. Congdon, J.D., A.E. Dunham, and R.C. Van Loben Sels. 1993. Delayed sexual maturity and demographics of Blanding's Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii): implications for conservation and management of long-lived organisms. Conservation Biology 7:826-833.
24. Curtin, A.J., G.R. Zug, and J.R. Spotila. 2009. Longevity and growth strategies of the Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in two American deserts. Journal of Arid Environments 73:463-471
25. Day, T., and P.D. Taylor. 1997. Von Bertalanffy's growth equation should not be used to model age and size at maturity. American Naturalist 149:381-393.
26. Doak, D., P. Kareiva, and B. Klepetka. 1994. Modeling population viability for the Desert Tortoise in the western Mojave Desert. Ecological Applications 4:446-460.
27. Dunham, A.E., and J.W. Gibbons. 1990. Growth of the Slider Turtle. Pp. 135-145 In Gibbons, J.W. (Ed.). Life History and Ecology of the Slider Turtle. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., USA.
28. Dunn, A., R.I.C.C. Francis, and I.J. Doonan. 2002. Comparison of the Chapman-Robson and regression estimators of Z from catch-curve data when nonsampling stochastic error is present. Fisheries Research 59:149-159.
29. nd Edition. Johns Hopkins Press. Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
30. Esque, T.C., K.E. Nussear, K.K. Drake, A.D. Walde, K.H. Berry, R.C. Averill-Murray, A.P. Woodman, W.I. Boarman, P.A. Medica, J. Mack, and J.S. Heaton. 2010. Effects of subsidized predators, resource variability, and human population density on Desert Tortoise populations in the Mojave Desert, USA. Endangered Species Research 12:167-177.
31. Fabens, A.J. 1965. Properties and fitting of the von Bertalanffy growth curve. Growth 29:265-289.
32. Frazer, N.B., J.W. Gibbons, and J.L. Greene. 1990. Exploring Fabens' growth interval model with data on a long-lived vertebrate, Trachemys scripta (Reptilia: Testudinata). Copeia1990:112-118.
33. Freilich, J.E., K.P. Burnham, C.M. Collins, and C.A. Garry. 2000. Factors affecting population assessments of Desert Tortoises. Conservation Biology 14:1479-1489.
34. Germano, D.J. 1988. Age and growth histories of Desert Tortoises using scute annuli. Copeia 1988:914-920.
35. Germano, D.J. 1992. Longevity and age-size relationships of populations of Desert Tortoises. Copeia 1992:367-374.
36. Germano, D.J. 1994. Growth and age at maturity of North American tortoises in relation to regional climates. Canadian Journal of Zoology 72:918-931.
37. Germano, D.J. 1998. Scutes and age determination of desert tortoises revisited. Copeia 1998:482-484.
38. Germano, D.J., and R.B. Bury. 1998. Age determination in turtles: evidence of annual deposition of scute rings. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 3:123-132.
39. Germano, D.J., and M.A. Joyner. 1989. Changes in a Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) population after a period of high mortality. Pp. 190-198 In Management of Amphibians, Reptiles, and Small Mammals in North America. Szaro, R.C., K.E. Severson, and D.R. Patton (Eds.). USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report RM-166, USA.
40. Germano, D.J., F.H. Pough, D.J. Morafka, E.M. Smith, and M.J. Demlong. 2002. Growth of Desert Tortoises. Pp. 265-288 In The Sonoran Desert Tortoise: Natural History, Biology and Conservation. Van Devender, T.R. (Ed.). University of Arizona Press and The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
41. Gibbons, J.W. 1990. Recommendations for future research on freshwater turtles: What are the questions? Pp. 311-317 In Life History and Ecology of the Slider Turtle. Gibbons, J.W. (Ed.). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., USA.
42. Gibbons, J.W., and J.L. Greene 1979. X-ray photography: a technique to determine reproductive patterns of freshwater turtles. Herpetologica 35:86-89.
43. Gibbons, J.W., and J.E. Lovich. 1990. Sexual dimorphism in turtles with emphasis on the Slider Turtle (Trachemys scripta). Herpetological Monographs 4:1-29.
44. Gibbons, J.W., R.D. Semlitsch, J.L. Greene, and J.P. Schubauer. 1981. Variation in age and size at maturity of the Slider Turtle (Pseudemys scripta). American Naturalist 17:841-845.
45. Grandmaison, D.D., M.F. Ingraldi, and F.R. Peck. 2010. Desert Tortoise microhabitat selection on the Florence Military Reservation, South-Central Arizona. Journal of Herpetology 44:581-590.
46. Hagerty, B.E., and C.R. Tracy. 2010. Defining population structure for the Mojave Desert Tortoise. Conservation Genetics 11:1795-1807.
47. Henen, B.T., C.C. Peterson, I.R. Wallis, K.H. Berry, and K.A. Nagy 1998. Effects of climatic variation on field metabolism and water relations of Desert Tortoises. Oecologia 117:365-373.
48. Hinton, T.G., P. Fledderman, J. Lovich, J. Congdon, and J.W. Gibbons. 1997. Radiographic determination of fecundity: Is the technique safe for developing turtle embryos? Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2:409-414.
49. Inman, R. D., K. E. Nussear, and C. R. Tracy. 2009. Detecting trends in population growth: elusive behavior inflates variance in estimates of population density. Endangered Species Research 10:295-304.
50. Iverson, J.B. 1991. Patterns of survivorship in turtles (order Testudines). Canadian Journal of Zoology 69:385-391.
51. Kaufmann, J.H. 1992. The social behavior of Wood Turtles, Clemmys insculpta, in central Pennsylvania. Herpetological Monographs 6:1-25.
52. Keith, K., and K.H. Berry. 2008. When Desert Tortoises are rare: testing a new protocol for assessing status. California Fish and Game 94:75-97.
53. Kirkpatrick, M. 1984. Demographic models based on size, not age, for organisms with indeterminate growth. Ecology 65:1874-1884.
54. Kozlowski, J. 1992. Optimal allocation of resources to growth and reproduction: implications for age and size at maturity. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 7:15-19.
55. Kristan, W.B., and W.I. Boarman. 2003. Spatial pattern of risk of Common Raven predation on Desert Tortoises. Ecology 84:2432-2443.
56. Kuvlesky, W.P., Jr., L.A. Brennan, M.L. Morrison, K.K. Boydston, B.M. Ballard, and F.C. Bryant. 2007. Wind energy development and wildlife conservation: challenges and opportunities. Journal of Wildlife Management 71:2487-2498.
57. Lamb, T., J.C. Avise, and J.W. Gibbons. 1989. Phylogeographic patterns in Mitochondrial DNA of the Desert Tortoise (Xerobates agassizi), and evolutionary relationships among the North American gopher tortoises. Evolution 43:76-87.
58. Lederle, P.E., K.R. Rautenstrauch, D.L. Rakestraw, K.K. Zander, and J.L. Boone. 1997. Upper respiratory tract disease and mycoplasmosis in Desert Tortoises from Nevada. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 33:759-765.
59. Leighton, P.A., J.A. Horrocks, and D.L. Kramer. 2010. Conservation and the scarecrow effect: Can human activity benefit threatened species by displacing predators? Biological Conservation 143:2156-2163.
60. Longshore, K.M., J.R. Jaeger, and J.M. Sappington. 2003. Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) survival at two eastern Mojave Desert sites: Death by short-term drought? Journal of Herpetology 37:169-177.
61. Lovich, J.E., and D. Bainbridge. 1999. Anthropogenic degradation of southern California desert ecosystem and prospects for natural recovery and restoration. Environmental Management 24:309-326.
62. Lovich, J.E., and R. Daniels. 2000. Environmental characteristics of Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) burrow locations in an altered industrial landscape. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 3:714-721.
63. Lovich, J.E., and J.R. Ennen. 2011. Wildlife conservation and solar energy development in the desert southwest United States. BioScience.
64. Lovich, J.E., and J.W. Gibbons. 1990. Age at maturity influences adult sex ratio in the turtle Malaclemys terrapin. Oikos 59:126-134.
65. Lovich, J.E., and J.W. Gibbons. 1992. A review of techniques for quantifying sexual size dimorphism. Growth, Development and Aging 56:269-281.
66. Lovich, J.E., J.R. Ennen, S.V. Madrak, and B. Grover. 2011. Turtles, culverts, and alternative energy development: an unreported but potentially significant mortality threat to the Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). Chelonian Conservation and Biology 10:124-129.
67. Lovich, J.E., P. Medica, H. Avery, K. Meyer, G. Bowser, and A. Brown. 1999. Studies of reproductive output of the Desert Tortoise at Joshua Tree National Park, the Mojave National Preserve, and comparative sites. Park Science 19:22-24.
68. McLuckie, A.M., and R.A. Fridell. 2002. Reproduction in Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) population on the Beaver Dam Slope, Washington County, Utah. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 4:288-294.
69. Mortimer, J.A. 1995. Teaching critical concepts for the conservation of sea turtles. Marine Turtle Newsletter 71:1-4.
70. Mueller, J.M., K.R. Sharp, K.K. Zander, D.L. Rakestraw, K.R. Rautenstrauch, and P.E. Lederle. 1998. Size-specific fecundity of the Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). Journal of Herpetology 32:313-3139.
71. Murphy, R.W., K.H. Berry, T. Edwards, A.E. Leviton, A. Lathrop, and J.D. Riedle. 2011. The dazed and confused identity of Agassiz's Land Tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, the description of a new species, and its consequences for conservation. Zoo Keys 113:39-71.
72. Mushinsky, H.R., D.S. Wilson, and E.D. McCoy. 1994. Growth and sexual dimorphism of Gopherus polyphemus in central Florida. Herpetologica 50:119-128.
73. Nussear, K.E., T.C. Esque, P.A. Medica, M. Cablk, and J.S. Heaton. 2008. Are wildlife detector dogs or people better at finding Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii)? Herpetological Conservation and Biology 3:103-115.
74. Omernik, J.M. 1995. Ecoregions: a framework for environmental management. Pp.49-62 In Biological Assessment and Criteria-tools for Water Resource Planning and Decision Making. Davis, W.S., and T.P. Simon (Eds.). Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
75. Omernik, J.M. 2004. Perspectives on the nature and definitions of ecological regions. Environmental Management 34:Supplement 1:s27-s38.
76. Pearson, D.C. 1986. The Desert Tortoise and energy development in southeastern California. Herpetologica 42:58-59.
77. Peterson, C.C. 1994. Different rates and causes of high mortality in two populations of the threatened Desert Tortoise Gopherus agassizii. Biological Conservation 70:101-108.
78. Peterson, C.C. 1996. Ecological energetics of the Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii): effects of rainfall and drought. Ecology 77:1831-1844.
79. Reiber, C.I., S. Malekpour, and M. McDaniel. 1999. Effects of post-hatching maintenance temperature on Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) shell morphology and thermoregulatory behavior. Journal of Herpetology 33:234-240.
80. Rhen, T., and J.W. Lang. 1995. Phenotypic plasticity for growth in the Common Snapping Turtle: effects of incubation temperature, clutch and their interaction. American Naturalist 146:726-747.
81. Richards, F.J. 1959. A flexible growth function for empirical use. Journal of Experimental Botany 10:290-300.
82. Rowe, J.R., G. Blouin-Demers, and P.J. Weatherhead. 2007. Demographic effects of road mortality in Black Ratsnakes (Elaphe obsoleta). Biological Conservation 137:117-124.
83. Sinervo, B., and S.C. Adolph. 1989. Thermal sensitivity of growth rate in hatchling Sceloporus lizards: environmental, behavioral and genetic aspects. Oecologia 78:411-419.
84. Stearns, S.C. 1976. Life-history tactics: a review of the ideas. The Quarterly Review of Biology 51:3-47.
85. Turner, F.B., P. Hayden, B.L. Burge, J.B. Roberson. 1986. Egg production by the Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in California. Herpetologica 42:93-104.
86. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.1994. Desert Tortoise (Mojave population) recovery plan. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon, USA.
87. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2008. Draft revised recovery plan for the Mojave population of the Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California and Nevada Region, Sacramento, California, USA.
88. Wallis, I.R., B.T. Henen, and K.A. Nagy. 1999. Egg size and annual egg production by female Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii): the importance of food abundance, body size, and date of egg shelling. Journal of Herpetology 33:394-408.
89. White, G.C., D.R. Anderson, K.P. Burnham, and D.L. Otis. 1982. Capture-recapture and removal methods for sampling closed populations. Los Alamos National Laboratory, LA-8787-NERP. Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA.
90. Wilshire, H.G., J.E. Nielson, and R.W. Hazlett. 2008. The American West at Risk: Science, Myths, and Politics of Land Abuse and Recovery. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA.
91. Wilshire, H., and D. Prose. 1987. Wind energy development in California, USA. Environmental Management 11:13-20.