Hope Sandlin

Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Leininger, Elizabeth

Area of Concentration

Environmental Studies

Abstract

The Florida grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus) is a highly endangered subspecies endemic to the dry prairies of south-central Florida. They have the capacity to act as an umbrella species for this shrinking ecosystem, wherein their conservation will protect the other species that share their habitat. They are currently threatened by habitat loss, fragmentation, degradation, and invasive species. Their populations continue to decline even in protected areas. There is no unifying cause for this decline. Currently a captive breeding program aims to revive the species and create stable wild populations. The US Fish & Wildlife Service’s recovery plan for these sparrows was last revised in 2019 and is therefore in need of an update. Through a review of the current literature and interviews with Florida grasshopper sparrow researchers, this thesis offers feedback and updated recommendations for the aforementioned FWS plan, including continued conservation efforts (both in situ and ex situ), more aggressive research to pinpoint the cause of decline, improved communication both within the scientific community and with the general public, and eventual removal from the endangered species list with a concrete management plan. Aside from lack of research and data about these birds overall, their vulnerability to climate change has been very briefly discussed in the literature; this thesis aims to remedy this absence by providing results of a Climate Change Vulnerability Index.

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