Food habits and livestock competition with the desert tortoise on the Beaver Dam Slope, Utah
Coombs EM. 1979. Food habits and livestock competition with the desert tortoise on the Beaver Dam Slope, Utah. Pages 132-147. In St. Amant E (ed): The Desert Tortoise Council: Proceedings of the 1979 Symposium. Tucson, AZ. March 24-26, 1979. Desert Tortoise Council. Long Beach, CA
Because of declining population, an analysis of the food habits of desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) in Beaver Dam Slope, Utah, was done. Two exotic annual plants, Bromus rubens and Erodium cicutarium, rather than perennial grasses are found to be the dominant foods of the desert tortoise. The authors conclude that competition, trampling of vegetation, and vegetative composition changes caused by livestock grazing may adversely affect the desert tortoise habitat and population.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Coombs, Eric
- Units
- JOTR
- Keywords
- critical habit, declining population, desert tortoise gopherus agassizii, Endangered Species, food diet, livestock competition, Predation, Taxa Links To References, Vegetation