| Listed Species in Bryan
County | ||||
| Species | Federal Status | State Status | Habitat | Threats |
| Mammal | ||||
| Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae | E | E | Coastal waters during migration | Entanglement in commercial fishing gear and collisions/disturbance associated with boats and barges |
| Right whale Eubalaena glacialis | E | E | Mate and calve in shallow coastal waters | Initial decreases probably due to overharvesting. Slow population growth after exploitation halted may be due to collisions/disturbance associated with boats and barges, inbreeding, inherently low reproductive rates, or a reduction in population below a critical size for successful reproduction. |
| West
Indian manatee Trichechus manatus | E | E | Coastal waters, estuaries, and warm water outfalls | Initial decreases probably due to overharvesting for meat, oil and leather. Current mortality due to collisions with boats and barges and from canal lock operations. Declines also related to coastal development and loss of suitable habitat, particularly destruction of seagrass beds. |
| Bird | ||||
| Bachman's warbler Vermivora bachmanii | E | E | Probably extinct; last seen in Georgia in 1976 | |
| Bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus | T | E | Inland waterways and estuarine areas in Georgia. Active eagle nests were located in Bryan County 1992-1999 and 2000-2002. | 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. |
| Piping
plover Charadrius melodus | T | T | Winter on Georgia's coast; prefer areas with expansive sand or mudflats (foraging) in close proximity to a sand beach (roosting) | Habitat alteration and destruction and human disturbance in nesting colonies. Recreational and commercial development have contributed greatly to loss of breeding habitat. |
| 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 | 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 | ||||
| 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 |
| Green sea turtle Chelonia mydas | T | T | Rarely nests in Georgia; migrates through Georgia's coastal waters | Exploitation for food, high levels of predation, loss of nesting habitat due to human encroachment, hatchling disorientation due to artificial lights on beaches, and drownings when trapped in fishing and shrimping nets |
| 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. |
| Hawksbill
sea turtle Eretmochelys imbricata
| E | E | Migrates through Georgia's coastal waters | Primary causes of population decline are development and modification of nesting beaches and exploitation for the shell. Secondary causes include egg consumption, use of the skin for leather, and heavy predation of eggs and hatchlings. |
| Kemp's
ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys kempi | E | E | Migrates through Georgia's coastal waters | Overharvesting of eggs and adults for food and skins and drowning when caught in shrimp nets |
| Leatherback sea turtle Dermochelys coriacea | E | E | Rarely nests in Georgia; migrates through Georgia's coastal waters | Human exploitation, beach development, high predation on hatchlings, and drowning when caught in nets of commercial shrimp and fish trawls and longline and driftnet fisheries |
| Loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta | T | T | Nests on Georgia's barrier island beaches; forages in warm ocean waters and river mouth channels | Loss of nesting beaches due to human encroachment, high natural predation, drownings when turtles trapped in fishing and shrimping trawls, and marine pollution |
| 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. Historic and new breeding sites active in Bryan County since 1990. | |
| Fish | ||||
| Shortnose sturgeon | E | E | Atlantic seaboard rivers | Construction of dams and pollution, habitat alterations from discharges, dredging or disposal of material into rivers, and related development activities. |
| Plant | ||||
| Georgia plume Elliottia racemosa | No Federal Status | T | Sand ridges, dry oak ridges, evergreen hammocks, and sandstone outcrops in a variety of sandy soil conditions ranging from moist to very dry | |
| Narrowleaf obedient plant Physostegia leptophylla | No Federal Status | T | Wet muck or peat in shallow water of river swamp openings and in the margins of both fresh and brackish (tidal) marshes | |
| Pondspice Litsea aestivalis | No Federal Status | T | Margins of swamps, cypress ponds, and sandhill depression ponds and in hardwood swamps | |
1This species is the responsibility of the National Marine Fisheries Service.