Adapting coastal management to climate change: Mitigating our shrinking shorelines
| Autor: | Christopher L. Parkinson, Rebecca Bolt, Richard A. Seigel, Rhett M. Rautsaw, Scott A. Martin |
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| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Ecology Tortoise Wildlife Climate change 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Coastal erosion Geography Habitat destruction Wildlife refuge General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecosystem Coastal management Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Nature and Landscape Conservation General Environmental Science |
| Zdroj: | The Journal of Wildlife Management. 81:982-989 |
| ISSN: | 0022-541X |
| Popis: | Sea-level rise due to climate change is a major threat to coastal ecosystems worldwide. Current management to reduce beach erosion often focuses on protecting human structures and research on effects on wildlife is lacking. Using a combination of hierarchical models and generalized linear models, we evaluated how the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) colonized constructed dunes along coastal scrub at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, central Florida, USA. Over 2 years, we surveyed tortoise populations along natural dunes and 2 constructed dunes (completed in 2012 and in 2014) and estimated tortoise density each summer and winter. Our models indicated that tortoise density along the 2014 dune was comparable to that of natural dunes (x¯ = 0–8 tortoises/ha), and density peaked at a mean of 21 tortoises/ha along the 2012 constructed dune. Gopher tortoises rapidly colonized constructed dunes, and dune construction may represent effective management against habitat loss for this species. © 2017 The Wildlife Society. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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