Proposal

Narrative

Gopher tortoises are large land turtles that live in the southeast US where the habitat is suitable to dig burrows, find sufficient food, and open areas for nesting and basking. Primarily due to habitat destruction, the gopher tortoise populations are declining, especially in southeast Florida where tortoise habitat has been converted to citrus orchards and housing developments. The gopher tortoise is now protected in Florida as a threatened species. Dr. Jon Moore has been engaging undergraduate and graduate students in investigations of tortoises’ movement, the demography of upper respiratory tract disease, the reproductive period and other aspects of tortoise biology and behavior in a 300+ tortoise population over the past 17 years. Compared to tortoises in North FL, Dr. Moore’s students have found in their studies that tortoises in South FL have different mating and reproduction behavior; it continues almost all year long! Currently, tortoise reproduction is monitored by periodically inspecting and counting the number of eggs laid or baby turtles; which may give an inaccurate estimation, due to predation, laid eggs or baby turtles may not have survived to be counted. A more accurate measure of reproduction would be to count eggs in adult tortoises, which currently can only be accomplished by removing the tortoise from its habitat for an X-ray. With the use of a field ultrasound machine, student researchers will be able to regularly field check females to safely measure the number, size and position of the eggs of an expecting tortoise; all possible indicators reproduction condition. With the use of the requested portable ultrasound machine, the impact of the research would be first for the betterment of the gopher tortoise and also give insight on environmental changes impact on tortoise health. Students conducting this research will be able to further develop their research thesis, and share their findings with Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Facilities

Due to the request of mobile devices/tech (i.e. field ultrasound machine) there is no need of space or facilities for this proposal. The requested device and accessories will be securely stored in the faculty’s designated research space on the Jupiter campus when not in use.

Hardware Requirements

The following request is for the following items. Cost for each item indicated below (rounded up to the nearest dollar amount) were quoted by a representative of the Choice Medical Systems Inc. (please see uploaded PDFs). Note: below reflects the quoted price after a 20% discount given to university purchases. IBEX EVO, Field Ultrasound machine, $12,000 Use of the field ultrasound machine will be for both undergraduate and graduate students conducting research under the mentorship of Dr. Jon Moore, Professor of Biology. The requested ultrasound machine produces high-quality images and offers a number of features (please see attached brochure) which will give student researchers invaluable skills that they can apply to future graduate work and/or careers. C9E Micro-convex transducer, $5,600 The requested transducer is an adapter necessary for use of the field ultrasound machine; it is a small enough size to survey the medium size adult gopher tortoise. InSite 2 Video Headset, $2,400 The requested google-style headset is capable of receiving images from the ultrasound machine while in the field to enable quality viewing while in the bright sunlight or low light situations. The need for the requested headset will be in high demand due to 1) Florida warm/sunny weather and 2) possible research being conducted in the evening. The use of the headset will ensure that proper data and observations were collected (i.e. if images are observed in a timely manner with the use of the headset, this will decrease the amount of time handling the tortoise).

Software Requirements

Color Doppler and Spectral Doppler Software: included in price quoted (cost: $0)

Personnel Costs

N/A

Other Costs

Accessory needed to use on gopher tortoise research to complement the requested hardware. 3-year Warranty: Included in quoted price (cost is $0) Carrying Case: $100 Estimated Total Shipping: $150 TOTAL OTHER COST: $250

Timeline

Equipment will be purchased as soon as funds are available. Our goal is to have the equipment available for both undergraduate and graduate students’ ongoing research and be available for use beginning Summer 2020 and Fall 2020. The use of the equipment could potentially be included in courses that are currently offer at Wilkes Honors College, e.g. Environmental Field Ecology and/or Field Biology.

Sustainability

Oversight and management of the equipment will be accomplished by Dr. Jon Moore, Professor of Biology. By the rugged and durable design of the IBEX field ultrasound, the use of the requested equipment will have a long-term use.

Resource Matching

The requested equipment is to augment the equipment currently used in multiple research of both the Gopher tortoise and the Diamondback Terrapin. Other devices required for the ongoing and future research project, such as cameras and scales, will be provided the biology department at the Wilkes Honors College.

Implementing Organization

The Biology faculty and staff will be responsible for implementing the proposed projects with the use of the requested equipment. No assistance will be needed from FAU OIT (Jupiter) office. Additionally, logistical support (e.g. purchasing, etc.) will be managed by the Wilkes Honors College program assistant.