Meeting Abstract
The influence of habitat quality on female size, egg size and hatchling size has received limited attention in tortoises. This region of study is of utmost importance in the conservation of chelonians because of the vulnerability of subadults of these species to predation. This study examines the difference between the size of the eggs and hatchlings from two populations of gopher tortoise in southeastern Georgia. The study sites are George L. Smith state park and the Fort Stewart Army Reserve. Both sites contain sandhill habitats dominated by longleaf pine and wiregrass, which is the primary habitat of the gopher tortoise in Georgia. These sites have varying management plans in relation to prescribed burns, with the entirety of the Fort Stewart Army Reserve being burnt biennially and George L. Smith state park being burnt irregularly, with the last burn occurring in 2014. Female tortoises from each site were captured and measured, then taken to Georgia Southern where they underwent X-ray radiography to determine gravidity and clutch size. They were released at the point of their capture within 24 hours. Nests were located and staked with vinyl coated wire mesh grates during the laying season from late May to early July and eggs were retrieved from those nests on August 19th (Fort Stewart) and August 21st (George L. Smith) to be incubated until hatch. Ten nests were retrieved from Fort Stewart, while five nests were retrieved from George L. Smith. The eggs from each site are compared first to each other, then to a historical data set covering the past 20 years in order to determine if controlled burns have an effect on egg and hatchling size and weight.
