Ingestion of Fossil Seashells, Stones and Small Mammal Bones by Gravid Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) in South Florida

2014 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon A. Moore ◽  
Alex Dornburg
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Gopherus Polyphemus

scholarly journals A Survey of Gopherus polyphemus Intestinal Parasites in South Florida

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica N. Huffman ◽  
Kent S. Haizlett ◽  
Dana K. Elhassani ◽  
Brian T. Cooney ◽  
Evelyn M. Frazier
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Habitat Management ◽  
Parasite Species ◽  
Intestinal Parasites ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Parasite Prevalence ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Gopher Tortoise ◽  
Gopherus Polyphemus ◽  
Significant Health

Gopherus polyphemus populations are diminishing throughout their range due to urbanization, fragmentation, and poor habitat management. Increased population densities, poor habitat quality, and lack of fire may influence disease transmission. Parasite roles within wild tortoise populations are largely unknown; despite evidence these pathogens may pose significant health risks. This study provides a baseline of gopher tortoise intestinal parasites across South Florida and reports on how varying environmental and tortoise characteristics may affect intestinal parasite species prevalence and approximate loads. Tortoise fecal samples were taken from six tortoise populations across five South Florida sites. Seven species of intestinal parasites were discovered from 123 tortoises. Identified parasites include endohelminths such as cyathostomes, pinworms, ascarids, flukes, and protozoans including Eimeria, Cryptosporidium, and Amoeba species. Significant differences in parasite prevalence and loads were seen between sites, while parasitism among sex, size class, and habitat type remained relatively ubiquitous.

Prevalence and Levels of Parasitemia of Hepatozoon sp. (Apicomplexa: Adeleorina) in Four Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Populations of South FLORIDA, USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 654
Author(s):  
Brian T. Cooney ◽  
Dana Elhassani ◽  
Arafat Bari ◽  
Jessica Huffman ◽  
Evelyn Frazier
Keyword(s):  
South Florida ◽  
Gopher Tortoise ◽  
Gopherus Polyphemus

South Florida Tropicals: Carambola

EDIS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Simonne ◽  
Linda Bobroff
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Fact Sheet ◽  
Star Fruit ◽  
Major Revision

The carambola or star fruit is native to Southeast Asia. It was introduced to Florida about 100 years ago. This 4-page fact sheet is a major revision that discusses availability, selection, uses, nutritive value, and food safety during preparation of carambola. This document also includes several recipes.

2011 BEEF FORAGE SURVEY RESULTS

EDIS ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja C. Crawford ◽  
Christa L. Kirby ◽  
Tycee Prevatt ◽  
Brent A. Sellers ◽  
Maria L. Silveira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Program Evaluation ◽  
Organizational Development ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
South Florida ◽  
University Of Florida ◽  
Development Unit ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
County Extension ◽  
Ranch Management ◽  
The University

The University of Florida / IFAS South Florida Beef Forage Program (SFBFP) is composed of county Extension faculty and state specialists.  The members, in conjunction with the UF/IFAS Program Evaluation and Organizational Development unit, created a survey in 1982, which is used to evaluate ranch management practices.  The survey is updated and distributed every 5 years to ranchers in 14 South Florida counties: Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Okeechobee, Polk, and Sarasota.  The responses are anonymous.  

Long-term monitoring provides insight into estuarine top predator (Carcharhinus leucas) resilience following an extreme weather event

2020 ◽  
Vol 639 ◽  
pp. 169-183
Author(s):  
P Matich ◽  
BA Strickland ◽  
MR Heithaus
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Acoustic Telemetry ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Behavioral Variability ◽  
Catch Per Unit Effort ◽  
Ontogenetic Shifts ◽  
Carcharhinus Leucas ◽  
Acute Disturbance ◽  
Cold Snap

Chronic environmental change threatens biodiversity, but acute disturbance events present more rapid and immediate threats. In 2010, a cold snap across south Florida had wide-ranging impacts, including negative effects on recreational fisheries, agriculture, and ecological communities. Here, we use acoustic telemetry and historical longline monitoring to assess the long-term implications of this event on juvenile bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas in the Florida Everglades. Despite the loss of virtually all individuals (ca. 90%) within the Shark River Estuary during the cold snap, the catch per unit effort (CPUE) of age 0 sharks on longlines recovered through recruitment within 6-8 mo of the event. Acoustic telemetry revealed that habitat use patterns of age 0-2 sharks reached an equilibrium in 4-6 yr. In contrast, the CPUE and habitat use of age 3 sharks required 5-7 yr to resemble pre-cold snap patterns. Environmental conditions and predation risk returned to previous levels within 1 yr of the cold snap, but abundances of some prey species remained depressed for several years. Reduced prey availability may have altered the profitability of some microhabitats after the cold snap, leading to more rapid ontogenetic shifts to marine waters among sharks for several years. Accelerated ontogenetic shifts coupled with inter-individual behavioral variability of bull sharks likely led to a slower recovery rate than predicted based on overall shark CPUE. While intrinsic variation driven by stochasticity in dynamic ecosystems may increase the resistance of species to chronic and acute disturbance, it may also increase recovery time in filling the diversity of niches occupied prior to disturbance if resistive capacity is exceeded.

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