You've probably seen some great big gopher tortoises lumbering through a local park, a natural area or even your own backyard.

But how many small gopher tortoises have you seen?

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute near Fort Pierce and the Loggerhead Marinelife Center at Juno Beach want to find out if diseases and dwindling habitat are causing gopher tortoises to produce fewer gopher tortoises.

The study began a couple of years ago when Justin Perrault, research director at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center at Juno Beach, led an effort to conduct health assessments on about 60 gopher tortoises at nearby Loggerhead Park.

The 17.5-acre Loggerhead Park is an example of a 'fragmented habitat," surrounded by the ocean on one side and busy roads and development on the other three.

"Now we want to do the same at the Harbor Branch campus and compare the populations," said Dr. Annie Page-Karjian, an assistant research professor and clinical veterinarian at Harbor Branch.

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The 40-acre Harbor Branch campus along the Indian river Lagoon north of Fort Pierce has more than 100 gopher tortoises, Page-Karjian said.

Data provided by the project will provide insight on the reproductive success of the two communities, then that can be compared to other gopher tortoise groups throughout Florida.

Healthy gopher tortoise populations make for healthy ecosystems. The tortoises are a keystone species because their burrows can be home to more than 300 other animal species.

Listed as "threatened" in Florida by the federal Endangered Species Act, both gopher tortoises and their burrows are protected by law.

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The physical exams include blood analyses and tests for infectious respiratory diseases common with gopher tortoises caused by the bacteria mycoplasma and the virus ranavirus.

'Top-heavy'

Fortunately, the research at Loggerhead Park found gopher tortoises of all ages, which indicates they're reproducing. But lots of other gopher tortoise communities are "top-heavy," meaning they have lots of older tortoises but not many young ones.

"Just because a population is surviving doesn't mean it's thriving," Page-Karjian said. "A lot of them may not be reproducing, which means the population isn't sustainable."

Researchers also will look for signs gopher tortoises are being eaten by predators, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"We've seen signs of bobcat attacks on gopher tortoises at Harbor Branch," Page-Karjian said, "and the fact that we have an apex predator like bobcats here is a good thing. We want bobcats to be here, and we want gopher tortoises to be here. It's a sign of a healthy ecosystem."

The researchers need $4,300 within the next 25 days to do their study. An online fund-raising effort had pledges of $1,774 as of Monday afternoon

"It's all or nothing funding," Page-Karjian said, meaning the study won't happen if the money isn't raised.

How to help

To donate:

Go to the project's website

Or contact Amanda Nickeson at 412-296-1852, anickeson@fau.edu

To report a sick or injured gopher tortoise: