Aprons And Aves: Bird Assemblages At Gopher Tortoise Burrow Aprons

Following hurricanes Helene and Milton, rangers at Ft. Desoto County Park noticed an increase in Gopher Tortoises inhabiting and establishing burrows, increasing the population from eight burrows to an estimated >100 tortoises. This may have lasting implications for the biological functions of the park’s ecosystem, especially for avian species, which have been noted to utilize Gopher Tortoise burrows and aprons. Twenty infrared triggered camera traps were deployed at 10 different burrows, one camera front facing and the other side facing, active 24 hours a day from March 2025 to February 2026. Unique identical species occurrences were determined as any photo that occurred at least 10 minutes apart, and we evaluated species richness and sampling completeness using species accumulation and rarefaction analyses. We observed 366 unique observations of 16 different avian species, the most frequently observed species being the Common Ground Dove (168), followed by both the Northern Cardinal and Palm Warbler (48). Total species richness likely ranges from 19–22 species, indicating a sampling completeness of approximately 77–84%. Additional monitoring would likely detect more species, likely less common migratory ones. These introduced Gopher Tortoise burrows provide a widely used ecosystem service for a multitude of avian species at Ft. Desoto. Natural dispersal events like this one provide important insight into how different avian species can adapt to and engage with changes to their environments. Further research into the behavior observed in each of these unique observations could give more insight into the ecological roles that these burrows fill. 

For more information: sebristol@eckerd.edu

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