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1 January 2015 Distribution and Habitat Selection by the Maritime Pocket Gopher
Jorge D. Cortez, Scott E. Henke, Dean W. Wiemers, Timothy E. Fulbright, David B. Wester, Richard Riddle
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Abstract

Geomys personatus maritimus (Maritime Pocket Gopher) is a genetically distinct subspecies that only occurs in deep sandy soils of Nueces and Kleberg counties of southern Texas. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has considered recommending the Maritime Pocket Gopher for federal listing. Because a large proportion of this gopher's current range occurs on US Navy (hereafter, Navy) property, active management by the Navy plays a key role in the conservation of this subspecies. Therefore, our objective was to assess the distribution and habitat preferences of Maritime Pocket Gophers on Navy properties in southern Texas. We conducted a strip-transect survey to evaluate the number and distribution of gopher mounds on the Navy base. We created GIS layers of the different disturbance types and plant communities, and overlaid them onto the mapped gopher-mound density layer. If the proportion of available area used by Maritime Pocket Gophers was below or above the corresponding 90% confidence interval, we categorized disturbance types and plant communities as used more often or less often, respectively. The distribution of Maritime Pocket Gophers was influenced by soil-particle size, plant community, type of habitat disturbance, and quantity of leaf litter. Maritime Pocket Gophers favored areas with sandy soil in frequently mowed native prairie, restoration fields, and Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda Grass) with little to no ground litter (i.e., dead vegetation, debris).

Jorge D. Cortez, Scott E. Henke, Dean W. Wiemers, Timothy E. Fulbright, David B. Wester, and Richard Riddle "Distribution and Habitat Selection by the Maritime Pocket Gopher," Southeastern Naturalist 14(1), 41-56, (1 January 2015). https://doi.org/10.1656/058.014.0108
Published: 1 January 2015
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