Ryan Myers - Superblog 3 -Images

 

Ryan Myers

HIST 197

Prof. Biggs

3/2/2020

Superblog 3

This is a map of the habitat of the multiple desert tortoise species. This project will focus on the western Mojave species which is shown in red. This map is useful as not only does it show these habitat ranges, but it also shows the location of military installations. Edwards Air force base is located in the center western area of this range.


This map shows the degree of threat to the desert tortoise and its habitat based on area. A great deal of this threat comes from continued development of the desert. Interestingly, the degree of threat is noticeably lower near and on military installations. This does lend a degree of credibility to the military’s claims that military lands can serve as pseudo-nature reserves.

This is a chart detailing the condition of tortoises released from head start pens from Spring of 2011 to Spring of 2014. The head start pens are pens used by the military to raise desert tortoises in a safe environment to be released when mature and bolster the wild population. LR1 indicates the fall 2013 release group, LR 2 shows fall of 2014 and NB shows the spring of 2014.

 


These are some of the head start pens located on the base. They are circular constructions which protect the juvenile tortoises while they mature. While this is a noble effort, it should be noted that there are some issues with crowding. It should also be noted that the pens have an enclosed top as ravens are a major predator of juvenile tortoises.


Finally, we have a juvenile tortoise. As one can see, the juvenile tortoise is quite small and vulnerable. It is for this reason that the majority of tortoise deaths in the wild occur in the first two years of life. It is hoped that by keeping young tortoises safe until mature will allow the population to grow much faster than natural.

Comments

  1. Antonios TheodosisMarch 2, 2021 at 4:06 PM

    Hello Ryan, right off the bat I have to say that the diverse range of images you provided for this week's blog are spot on and unique. I like that you incorporated the image of the Juvenile tortoise, along with a snapshot of the base, and provided us with graphs that display data. Its a culmination of images that really shows how deep you have researched your particular topic which will make for an entertaining read when it is all finished up. It has made me think about how I can improve my image selections for my own project in order to provide a nice, diverse set of images to help my project flow along nicely.

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