Listed Species in Charlton
County | ||||
Species | Federal Status | State Status | Habitat | Threats |
Mammal | ||||
Round-tailed muskrat Neofiber alleni | No Federal Status | T | Bogs and ponds; creates pyramid-shaped nest in vegetation | |
Bird | ||||
Bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus | T | E | Inland waterways and estuarine areas in Georgia | Major factor in initial decline was lowered reproductive success following use of DDT. Current threats include habitat destruction, disturbance at the nest, illegal shooting, electrocution, impact injuries, and lead poisoning. |
Red-cockaded
woodpecker Picoides borealis | E | E | Nest in mature pine with low understory vegetation (<1.5m); forage in pine and pine hardwood stands > 30 years of age, preferably > 10" dbh | Reduction of older age pine stands and encroachment of hardwood midstory in older age pine stands due to fire suppression |
Wood
stork Mycteria americana | E | E | Primarily feed in fresh and brackish wetlands and nest in cypress or other wooded swamps. An active rookery was located in Charlton County in 1995. No active rookeries in 2000 | Decline due primarily to loss of suitable feeding habitat, particularly in south Florida. Other factors include loss of nesting habitat, prolonged drought/flooding, raccoon predation on nests, and human disturbance of rookeries. |
Reptile | ||||
Alligator snapping turtle Macroclemys temmincki | No Federal Status | T | Rivers, lakes, and large ponds near stream swamps. | Destruction and modification of habitat and overharvesting. |
Eastern
indigo snake Drymarchon corais couperi | T | T | During winter, den in xeric sandridge habitat preferred by gopher tortoises; during warm months, forage in creek bottoms, upland forests, and agricultural fields | Habitat loss due to uses such as farming, construction, forestry, and pasture and to overcollecting for the pet trade |
Gopher tortoise
Gopherus polyphemus | No Federal Status | T | Well-drained, sandy soils in forest and grassy areas; associated with pine overstory, open understory with grass and forb groundcover, and sunny areas for nesting | Habitat loss and conversion to closed canopy forests. Other threats include mortality on highways and the collection of tortoises for pets. |
Amphibian | ||||
Flatwoods salamander Ambystoma cingulatum | T | T | Adults and subadults are fossorial; found in open mesic pine/wiregrass flatwoods dominated by longleaf or slash pine and maintained by frequent fire. During breeding period, which coincides with heavy rains from Oct.-Dec., move to isolated, shallow, small, depressions (forested with emergent vegetation) that dry completely on a cyclic basis. Last breeding record for Charlton County was in the 1920's. | |
Plant | ||||
Hartwrightia Hartwrightia floridana | No Federal Status | T | Peaty muck of pine flatwoods, sedge meadows, and wettest parts of poorly drained ditches/sloughs; often with water-spider orchid Habenaria repen | |
Parrot pitcher-plant Sarracenia psittacina | No Federal Status | T | Acid soils of open bogs, wet savannahs, and low areas in pine flatwoods | |
Pondspice Litsea aestivalis | No Federal Status | T | Margins of swamps, cypress ponds, and sandhill depression ponds and in hardwood swamps |