BULLETIN FLORIDA MUSEUM NATURAL HISTORY VOL. 38 PT. 1(4)


Table 4. Estimated tortoise size and burrow density in sandhill and old field habitats on the Ordway
Preserve, Putnam County, Florida.

 Estimated Carapace
 Length (mm)
 Number
 of Density
Habitat Location Burrows' Mean SD (Burrows/ha)

Sandhill Core 8 208.9 19.4 2.42
Sandhill Perimeter 35 218.2 42.5 10.56
Old field Core 15 247.7 54.4 6.00
Old field Perimeter 19 238.5 57.2 7.60

' Total includes active and inactive burrows only.



class distribution for all localities combined and the size-class distributions based
on capture data also are unimodal (Fig. 11).
 Recent harvest from the populations at the periphery of the Ordway Preserve
 was not detected. The highest concentrations of burrows were found at perimeter
 sites in both habitats (Table 4) and mean estimated carapace length of tortoises at
 the perimeter sandhill and old field sites were not significantly different (t = 1.32,
 df = 29, P > 0.05). Historically, selected sites were harvested regardless of distance
 from the boundary fence. Apparently, tortoise hunters removed tortoises well inside
 the Preserve.

 Nest site selection.- Less than 2% of the 2008 burrow aprons that I
 examined from 1989 through 1991 contained nests (Table 5), and only 2 of 18
 gravid females (as determined by X-ray) deposited their clutches in burrow aprons.
 It appears that, on the Ordway Preserve, female tortoises select nest sites away
 from the burrow entrance, verifying the speculation of Carr (1952). These findings
 differ from general statements in the literature which regard burrow entrances as
 the primary nesting location (Hallinan 1923; Cox et al. 1987). In southwest
 Georgia, only 17 of 110 nests (15%) were deposited away from the burrow
 entrance (Landers et al. 1980); thick herbaceous cover and roots were thought to
 restrict nesting to burrow entrances and man-made clearings (Landers et al. 1980).
 Undoubtedly, factors such as vegetative cover and local soil conditions contribute
 to variation in nest site selection. Availability of alternative nest sites may be
 particularly important because egg predators may use burrow aprons as visual cues
 for locating nests.