The gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus, got its name because it digs and uses several burrows within its homerange. These burrows are usually 6 feet deep and 15 feet long, but the record is 47 feet long! These burrows offer refuge from the cold, heat, predators, drought, and fires.

Life history:

Gopher tortoises are herbivores and feed on grasses, legumes, cactus, and other herbaceous plants. The gopher tortoise usually gets the water that it needs from the plants that it feeds upon. Fire is critical to the health of the forest, without regular fires, the herbaceous plants get replaced by shrubs and small trees. This reduces the food availability and the dense vegetation hinders the tortoises ability to move throughout the forest.

The gopher tortoise is native to the southeastern United States and is a keystone species in the sandhill, pine, scrub, prairie, and coastal dune habitats. A keystone species is an organism that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance. The gopher tortoise burrow provides habitat for more than 350 other species!!! These species include burrowing owls, indigo snakes (endangered), and the obligate gopher frog, gopher cave cricket, and Florida mouse. These animals that use the gopher tortoise burrows are known as commensal species (they neither help nor harm the tortoise). Because they depend on the gopher tortoise burrows, when there is a decline in gopher tortoises, there is also a decline in all of the other species.

The gopher tortoise needs relatively deep, sandy soil for burrowing and sunny, open spots to lay its eggs. Unfortunately, these high and dry habitats are also prime real estate locations. The gopher tortoise is Threatened and both the tortoise and its burrow are protected under state law. The main reason for the decline of gopher tortoises is habitat loss and fragmentation.