Species assessment for Idaho pocket gopher (Thomomys idahoensis) in Wyoming

Publication Type:

Report

Authors:

Beauvais, Gary P.; Dark-Smiley, Darby N.

Source:

Prepared for USDI, Bureau of Land Mangement, Wyoming State Office, Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, p.28 (2005)

Call Number:

U05BEA01IDUS

URL:

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/wildlife/animal-assessmnts.Par.88952.File.dat/IdahoPocketGopher.pdf

Keywords:

Idaho Pocket Gopher, Thomomys idahoensis

Abstract:

The Idaho pocket gopher (Thomomys idahoensis) has been accepted as a full species only recently and is very poorly known. It is endemic to southwestern Wyoming and southeastern Idaho, extending slightly into southwestern Montana and northern Utah, generally in arid and rocky habitat. This assessment summarizes what is known about the species’ natural history: its habitat requirements; reproductive behavior and phenology; survivorship; population demographics, including limiting factors and genetic concerns about the species; its foot habits; movement and activity patterns; and community ecology, including disease. Also summarized are conservation issues: conservation status information; species abundance; habitat trends; extrinsic threats to the species; and intrinsic vulnerabilities, such as habitat specificity, disease susceptibility, and reproductive capacity. Few conservation action recommendations can be made with so little known about the species; field inventories and monitoring are recommended in as many environments as possible and along the borders of Idaho, Wyomng, and Utah.