Using Soil Survey to Help Predict Sonoran Desert Tortoise Population Distribution and Densities
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Case Study: Using Soil Survey to Help Predict Sonoran Desert Tortoise Population Distribution and Densities Item Type Article; text Authors Stager, R. D.; Roundy, E.; Brackley, G.; Leonard, S.; Lato, L. Citation Stager, R. D., Roundy, E., Brackley, G., Leonard, S., & Lato, L. (2017). Case Study: Using Soil Survey to Help Predict Sonoran Desert Tortoise Population Distribution and Densities. Rangelands, 39(3-4), 97-111. DOI 10.1016/j.rala.2017.06.002 Publisher Society for Range Management Journal Rangelands Rights Copyright © Society for Range Management. Download date 03/10/2021 01:57:11 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Version Final published version Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/657863 Case Study: Using Soil Survey to Help Predict Sonoran Desert Tortoise Population Distribution and Densities By Robert D. Stager, Elno Roundy, Gary Brackley, Steve Leonard, and Leon Lato Arizona. The association’s purpose for this research study was On the Ground to provide better resource understanding and tools to better • Soils properties can affect the ability of an animal to manage livestock and other multiple uses of the public lands dig burrows for habitat and survival purposes. to better benefit the environment overall. • The Sonoran (Gopherus morafkai) and Mojave The survey covered approximately 956 square miles, or Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) require bur- 611,840 acres, located from 5 to 80+ miles south of Kingman, rows that are at least 20 inches deep to help them Arizona. Our objectives for this study were to compare thermoregulate during the cold of winter and heat of site-specific landform, soils, and vegetative characteristics with summer. SDT density and distribution and to attempt to identify detailed • Soils that have characteristics that restrict their and quantifiable soils and landform characteristics that may be "digability" would be expected to limit the population used to predict the distribution and densities of resident SDT, 1 density and distribution of animals such as the overlapping inhabitant Mojave Desert Tortoise (MDT), and 2 Sonoran or the Mojave Desert Tortoise regardless of any hybrids produced from the union of the SDT and MDT. the amount of forage vegetation being produced. Additionally, an assessment of livestock use and potential • TheSonoranDesertTortoiseinMohaveCounty, competition for forage or habitat were considered. Similar efforts 3 Arizona, and possibly throughout its range may seek were completed in 1992 in Piute Valley, Clark County, Nevada, i "habitats of opportunity" within boulder piles, under for the MDT and in 1997 for 10 MDT study plots and exposed bedrock, and in caliche caves due to the surroundingareaslocatedinNye,Clark,andLincolnCounties limited "digability" of the soils endemic to this part of in Nevada. These studies showed clear and definable relation- the Sonoran Desert. ships between soils, geomorphic surfaces (geomorphology), and • The natural availability of thermoregulating burrowing vegetation and the distribution and densities of burrowing habitat and temperature/precipitation records should animalssuchastheMDT. be considered when interpreting any fluctuations in The resultant soils classification criteria were evaluated by Sonoran Desert Tortoise population densities. the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The NRCS then developed soils criteria and a soils report called Keywords: Sonoran Desert Tortoise, habitats of oppor- WLF-Desert Tortoise in cooperation with the United States tunity, soils and landform characteristics, soils classifica- Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management tion criteria, ecological site, upland rangeland health. (BLM) to rate soils for suitability of burrowing for the desert tortoise and has made use of it in California and Nevada. Rangelands – 39(3-4):97 111 The information collected and analyzed from the Piute doi 10.1016/j.rala.2017.06.002 © Valley study in the 1997 effort, as revised in 2010 (Lato and 2017 The Society for Range Management. Stager, unpublished data), was compared with four existing SDT (Gopherus morafkai) study plots that had previously been e completed a soils and vegetation attribute established on federal land within this study area in Mojave study in relation to Sonoran Desert Tortoise County, Arizona, by the BLM and the Arizona Game and Fish (SDT) habitat from 5 December 2009 to 19 Department (AGFD). We centered our efforts on these W January 2010 and again from 29 March to 1 1-square-mile agency study plots and the surrounding areas April 2015 in Mojave County, Arizona. This study was done on behalf of the Mojave Livestock Association, which i Lato, L., and R. Stager. 1997 (updated 2010). Soils, landforms and contracted with us to conduct this distribution and density ecological sites to assist in habitat evaluation for desert tortoise in the Mojave analysis to better understand the tortoise and its behaviors in and Sonoran Deserts. Unpublished Report. 11 p. June/August 2017 97 because they had well documented desert tortoise populations cholla (Opuntia acanthocarpa), nolina (Nolina Bigelovii), Mohave and habitat characteristics studies from 1980 to 2008 that were Thorn (Canotia holocantha), Saguaro (Cereus giganteus), Joshua presented in agency reports dated from 1981 to 2009. The Tree (Yucca brevifolia), and/or Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteos- agency study plots are named East Bajada, Buck Mountain, perma)withperennialgrassessuchasBushMuhly(Mulenbergia Hualapai Foothills, and Arrastra Mountain. The East Bajada porteri)andDesertNeedlegrass(Stipa speciosa) and annuals in and Buck Mountain study plots are located in a Mojave and the understory. Figures 1 and 2 present satellite imagery showing Sonoran Desert vegetation transition area and often express a the study area location within Mohave County, Arizona. mixture of the two desert vegetation communities. The 24 SDT agency reports for these four study plots were completed before it was more commonly suggested that the SDT and MDT may have some population overlap near the eastern side of the Methods Colorado River. We will refer to these four study plot reports We classified and analyzed soils and vegetation on a and consider them Agency Reports.ii site-specific basis using standard USDA-NRCS and United States Department of Interior/BLM field methods. The USDA-NRCS's "Soil Survey of Mohave County, Arizona, Southern Part" (SSMC), completed in 1996 and published in 4 Setting 2005, was referenced and utilized extensively in this study. The climate in the study area is typical Sonoran Desert with Plant communities within each agency SDT study plot were cool winters and hot summers, receiving 5 to 8 inches of assigned to an ecological site correlated to the soil series precipitation annually from low-intensity, uniformly distributed recognized in the SSMC. Soil properties examined and winter storms and scattered, high-intensity summer storms. correlated to tortoise distribution and densities by us included The elevation varies from about 1,700 feet to 3,700 feet. The mean annual soil temperature at a depth of 20 inches, rock major physiographic parts of the valley are the piedmont slopes fragment content, soil texture, flooding frequency, depth to surrounded by granitic and volcanic foothills and mountains. restrictive layers, and microenvironment parameters such as The plant communities surveyed were an overlap of Mojave- inset drainages, boulders, and aspect. This soils information and Sonoran-type communities or ecological sites with creosote was analyzed from 3 to 15 miles from the central location of (Larrea divaricata), white bursage (Ambrosia dumosa), and each agency study plot to determine whether these soils ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) in the lower elevations. Palo characteristics were associated with tortoise burrowing verde (Parkinsonia microphylla) is also prominent in some areas. habitat, distribution, and overall population characteristics. An herbaceous understory ranges from predominantly a mixture Vegetation data consisted of an assessment of foliar/canopy of introduced and native annual forbs and grasses in the southern cover of annual and perennial vegetation, bare ground, and portion to perennial grasses with annuals in the northern part of ground cover of gravels, cobbles, stones, and litter. Plant this study area. At higher elevations, the vegetation aspect is species diversity or richness, plant vigor, and upland rangeland populated by catsclaw (Acacia greggii), ocotillo (F. splendens), health for each ecological site were also recorded. We documented the presence or absence of tortoise signs during ii Hart, S. et al. EnviroPlus Consulting and Kiva Biological Consulting. the soils and vegetation assessments to supplement existing 1992. Desert tortoise population studies at seven sites and a mortality survey tortoise data. We also noted the presence of domestic at one site in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona. Contract with Arizona Game and livestock signs in the form of live animals, droppings, trailing, Fish Department (AGFD). Unpublished Report for AGFD and BLM. 137 and utilization. We carefully located soil sampling sites to p. Murray, R. C. 1993. Mark-recapture methods for monitoring Sonoran represent the dominant soil types as identified in the SSMC populations of the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) [thesis]. Unpublished Report. 145 p. Schneider, P. B. 1981. A population analysis of the desert and compared/correlated to the agency reports on the tortoise tortoise in Arizona.