TY - JOUR
T1 - Severe mortality of a population of threatened Agassiz's desert tortoises
T2 - The american badger as a potential predator
AU - Emblidge, Patrick G.
AU - Nussear, Ken E.
AU - Esque, Todd C.
AU - Aiello, Christina M.
AU - Walde, Andrew D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The authors 2015.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - In the Mojave Desert of the southwestern United States, adult Agassiz's desert tortoises Gopherus agassizii typically experience high survival, but population declines associated with anthropogenic impacts led to their listing as a threatened Species under the US Endangered Species Act in 1990. Predation of adult tortoises is not often considered a significant threat as they are adapted to deter most predation attempts. Despite these adaptations, some populations have experienced elevated mortality attributed to predators, suggesting that predation pressure may occasionally increase. During the tortoise activity seasons of 2012 and 2013, we observed unsustainably high mortality in 1 of 4 populations of adult desert tortoises (22 and 84%, respectively) in the western Mojave Desert in the vicinity of Barstow, CA. Photographic evidence from trail cameras and examination of carcass condition suggest that American badgers Taxidea taxus-a sometimes cited but unconfirmed predator of adult tortoises-may have been responsible for some of the mortality observed. We discuss the American badger as a plausible predator of a local tortoise population, but recommend further investigation into these events and the impacts such mortality can have on tortoise persistence.
AB - In the Mojave Desert of the southwestern United States, adult Agassiz's desert tortoises Gopherus agassizii typically experience high survival, but population declines associated with anthropogenic impacts led to their listing as a threatened Species under the US Endangered Species Act in 1990. Predation of adult tortoises is not often considered a significant threat as they are adapted to deter most predation attempts. Despite these adaptations, some populations have experienced elevated mortality attributed to predators, suggesting that predation pressure may occasionally increase. During the tortoise activity seasons of 2012 and 2013, we observed unsustainably high mortality in 1 of 4 populations of adult desert tortoises (22 and 84%, respectively) in the western Mojave Desert in the vicinity of Barstow, CA. Photographic evidence from trail cameras and examination of carcass condition suggest that American badgers Taxidea taxus-a sometimes cited but unconfirmed predator of adult tortoises-may have been responsible for some of the mortality observed. We discuss the American badger as a plausible predator of a local tortoise population, but recommend further investigation into these events and the impacts such mortality can have on tortoise persistence.
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U2 - 10.3354/esr00680
DO - 10.3354/esr00680
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84940379829
SN - 1863-5407
VL - 28
SP - 109
EP - 116
JO - Endangered Species Research
JF - Endangered Species Research
IS - 2
ER -