At Home with the Gopher Tortoise: The Story of a Keystone Species [Paperback]

At Home with the Gopher Tortoise: The Story of a Keystone Speciesteaches young readers about the gopher tortoise and the more than 360 different kinds of animals that depend on it for survival. From owls to rabbits, from skunks to scorpions, the gopher tortoise provides creatures with shelter, food, or a place to raise their young. In this fascinating tale of ecological interdependency, glorious illustrations reveal the gopher tortoise's world both below and above ground, showing children how the fate of one species is important to so many others.

Named an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12 by the National Science Teachers Association and Children's Book Council for 2011.

At Home With the Gopher Tortoise: The Story of a Keystone Species is an illustrated nature/conservation book for children featuring a unique keystone species. With 360 different species of animals dependent on it for survival, the gopher tortoise presents a fascinating study of ecological interdependency. Because the gopher tortoise digs burrows for its dens in parts of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and other Southeastern states of the US, many other species including skunks, birds, frogs, mice and snakes depend on the burrows for their own protection and survival of their young. Even burrowing owls use the gopher tortoise's burrows to shelter their fledgling owlets. Other insects use the burrows and other birds eat the insects that thrive in the burrows, completing yet more circles of interdependency. Even a bobcat may use a large burrow to hide and cool itself, while birds such as bobwhites, rabbits and lizards also find refuge in the burrows. In the soil loosened by the gopher tortoise's digging grow plants such as the scrub mint which provides a pleasant fragrance. In this way the life activities of the gopher tortoise provide protective, favorable habitat for a whole spectrum of living creatures who depend upon the continued survival of l³%