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Biologists and volunteers monitor nesting shorebirds and other endangered species such as nesting sea turtles, gopher tortoises, and even the tiny Perdido Key beach mouse. Resource management also includes removing non-native plants and animals, testing water quality, planting sea oats in hurricane impacted areas, monitoring ospreys and eagles, mapping shoreline erosion, and assisting with prescribed fires. The last refuge Many park visitors are aware of such animals such as bald eagles, sea turtles, and the Perdido Key beach mice that receive protection in lands like national parks. However, lesser-known species such as the Gulf sturgeon, the piping plover, and the gopher tortoise are equally important to ensure a biologically diverse ecosystem at Gulf Islands National Seashore. Scientists believe that for thousands of years the Gulf sturgeon, a bottom-dwelling fish, has migrated from the deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico to inland rivers to spawn. Fossil records of this primitive fish date back 200 million years. However, the population of this once commercially harvested fish have drastically dropped. Piping plovers, the color of dry sand, are some of the original "snowbirds" arriving on southern beaches to spend the winter. Rampant construction of roads and buildings has greatly diminished the amount of habitat for these and other coastal birds. Further inland, gopher tortoises were once common throughout the southeastern United States but past hunting for food, and habitat destruction, have reduced populations dramatically. These land dwelling tortoises excavate extensive burrows providing homes for many other creatures with their maze of tunnels. Unmistakably, these slow moving reptiles face an uphill battle. All three of these animals are listed as threatened or endangered and all require protected habitat. The land and aquatic ecosystems of Gulf Islands National Seashore provide a last refuge for these species. |
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Last Updated:
1/6/03
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