The Gopher Tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus is iconic, yet threatened throughout its range in the southeastern United States. It is a burrowing, herbivorous tortoise whose upland habitats have been greatly reduced by habitat destruction, fragmentation and/or reduction in quality due to anthropogenic changes in the disturbance regimes, such as fire, that are necessary to maintain quality habitat. Importantly, Gopher Tortoises are well documented keystone species supporting numerous conspecifics that are dependent upon or regularly use their burrows.

While this species has been much studied in its inland habitats, it also thrives in coastal sand dune environments where little is known about its behavior, ecosystem role or conservation status. Coastal natural areas in the state of Florida, USA have been significantly reduced by human activity, and are now additionally threatened with accelerated sea level rise and more frequent and intense storms.

We collected Gopher Tortoise burrow location, abundance, width and activity data in 2016 for a coastal population within northeast Florida, protected within the northern component of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. Soon after our burrow survey was completed in 2016, Hurricane Matthew heavily impacted our study area that fall. In order to determine the degree to which this Gopher Tortoise population might have been impacted by the hurricane, we began re-surveying burrows in 2017 but were interrupted by another Hurricane, Irma, in 2017. We completed the post-hurricanes burrow surveys in 2018.

When comparing pre-and post-hurricanes surveys, we found that habitat was lost and burrow density increased. The relative proportion of burrows categorized as “active” increased, while “inactive” and “abandoned” burrows decreased. Furthermore, burrow abundance decreased by 10% following these back-to-back hurricane events.

We infer that individual Gopher Tortoises mostly abandoned low elevation burrows at risk of hurricane-related storm surge and relocated to higher elevation, unused (or “inactive” and “abandoned”) burrows. Such relocation, combined with significant loss of previously inhabited lower elevation habitat could explain the post-storm increase in burrow density and the proportional changes in burrow activity classification.

However, as resilient as this population may be, it is running out of room due to sea level rise and habitat loss and fragmentation. Such implications for this and other species should be considered in conservation planning for coastal species of concern.

地鼠龟（Gopherus polyphemus）是标志性动物，但在美国东南部的整个范围内都受到威胁。这是一种穴居草食性陆龟，由于维持生境质量所必需的干扰制度（例如火）的人为变化，由于栖息地破坏，破碎和/或质量下降，陆生栖息地大大减少。重要的是，地鼠乌龟是有据可查的梯形物种，支持许多依赖或经常使用它们的洞穴的物种。

While this species has been much studied in its inland habitats, it also thrives in coastal sand dune environments where little is known about its behavior, ecosystem role or conservation status. Coastal natural areas in the state of Florida, USA have been significantly reduced by human activity, and are now additionally threatened with accelerated sea level rise and more frequent and intense storms.

We collected Gopher Tortoise burrow location, abundance, width and activity data in 2016 for a coastal population within northeast Florida, protected within the northern component of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. Soon after our burrow survey was completed in 2016, Hurricane Matthew heavily impacted our study area that fall. In order to determine the degree to which this Gopher Tortoise population might have been impacted by the hurricane, we began re-surveying burrows in 2017 but were interrupted by another Hurricane, Irma, in 2017. We completed the post-hurricanes burrow surveys in 2018.

在比较飓风前后的调查时，我们发现栖息地消失了，洞穴密度增加了。分类为“活跃”的洞穴的相对比例增加，而“不活跃”和“被遗弃”的洞穴减少。此外，在这些背对背的飓风事件之后，洞穴丰度下降了10％。

我们推断，个别地鼠乌龟大多抛弃了低海拔的洞穴，有遭受飓风相关风暴潮的危险，并搬迁至较高海拔，未使用（或“闲置”和“废弃”）的洞穴。这种迁移，再加上先前居住的低海拔栖息地的大量损失，可以解释风暴后洞穴密度的增加以及洞穴活动类别的成比例变化。

然而，由于海平面上升，生境丧失和破碎化，该种群虽然具有一定的复原力，但空间不足。在有关沿海物种的保护规划中应考虑对这一物种和其他物种的这种影响。