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Lake Erie Watersnake Nerodia Sipedon Insularum

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Lake Erie Watersnake Nerodia Sipedon Insularum COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Lake Erie Watersnake Nerodia sipedon insularum in Canada SPECIAL CONCERN 2015 COSEWIC status reports are working documents used in assigning the status of wildlife species suspected of being at risk. This report may be cited as follows: COSEWIC. 2015. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Lake Erie Watersnake Nerodia sipedon insularum in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. xi + 37 pp. (http://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/default_e.cfm). Previous report(s): COSEWIC 2006. COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the Lake Erie watersnake Nerodia sipedon insularum in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vii + 23 pp. (www.sararegistry.gc.ca/status/status_e.cfm). Campbell, C.A. 1991. COSEWIC status report on the Lake Erie watersnake Nerodia sipedon insularum in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. 1-67 pp. Production note: COSEWIC would like to acknowledge Rob Willson and Glenn Cunnington for writing the draft of the status report on Lake Erie Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon insularum) in Canada, prepared under contract with Environment Canada. This report was overseen and edited by Jim Bogart, Co-chair of the COSEWIC Amphibians and Reptiles Specialist Subcommittee with contributions from the Amphibians and Reptiles Specialist Subcommittee members. For additional copies contact: COSEWIC Secretariat c/o Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada Ottawa, ON K1A 0H3 Tel.: 819-938-4125 Fax: 819-938-3984 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.cosewic.gc.ca Également disponible en français sous le titre Ếvaluation et Rapport de situation du COSEPAC sur la Couleuvre d’eau du lac Érié (Nerodia sipedon insularum) au Canada. Cover illustration/photo: Lake Erie Watersnake — Photo courtesy of Joe Crowley. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2015. Catalogue No. CW69-14/483-2016E-PDF ISBN 978-0-660-05009-6 COSEWIC Assessment Summary Assessment Summary – November 2015 Common name Lake Erie Watersnake Scientific name Nerodia sipedon insularum Status Special Concern Reason for designation The Canadian distribution of this unique population of watersnakes is confined to four small islands in Lake Erie. In the United States, subpopulations have recovered because of an increased fish prey base, provided by introduced Round Goby. It is uncertain whether a similar recovery has occurred in Canadian subpopulations. There is concern that the largest subpopulation on Pelee Island continues to be threatened by road mortality, shoreline development, and persecution by humans. Occurrence Ontario Status history Designated Endangered in April 1991 and in April 2006. Status re-examined and designated Special Concern in November 2015. iii COSEWIC Executive Summary Lake Erie Watersnake Nerodia sipedon insularum Wildlife Species Description and Significance Lake Erie Watersnake, Nerodia sipedon insularum, is one of two subspecies of the Common Watersnake, Nerodia sipedon (family Colubridae), found in Canada. Lake Erie Watersnakes range in appearance from being regularly patterned with dark dorsal and lateral blotches to a uniform grey (often a drab greenish or brownish) without pattern. The colour of the ventral scales is generally white or yellowish white, often with dark speckling. Lake Erie Watersnakes are heavy-bodied. The head is large and covered with broad, smooth scales and the body scales are “keeled”. Long-term studies on Lake Erie Watersnakes have served as models for understanding evolutionary processes such as gene flow and selection, as well as provided researchers with an example of a rare species benefiting from the introduction of an invasive species. Distribution Lake Erie Watersnake has one of the smallest distributions of any snake in North America. In its Canadian range, Lake Erie Watersnake is known to occur only on four small islands in the western basin of Lake Erie (Pelee, Middle, East Sister, and Hen Islands). In the United States, Lake Erie Watersnake occurs in a small shoreline area of the Ohio mainland and on 11 Ohio islands in the western end of Lake Erie. Habitat During the active season, Lake Erie Watersnake occupies rocky or sandy shorelines, and limestone or dolomite shelves and ledges with cracks and varying levels of vegetation. Natural and human-made rock berms are also used. The snakes feed in the water but rarely go more than 200 m from shore while foraging. Watersnakes are rarely found more than 100 m inland during the active season, instead most of the time they are within 13 m of the water’s edge. Distance travelled inland during the active season is dependent on the availability of shelter habitat and possibly conspecifics during the mating season. Hibernation habitat is farther inland and the sites used are usually cavities and crevices, and are typically composed of soil and rock substrates. iv Biology Lake Erie Watersnake can live up to 12 years in the wild. This species reaches sexual maturity at 3–4 years of age. Courtship involves scramble competition in which several males court one female simultaneously. Annual reproduction by females is common. Females give birth to live young and litter size averages 23 and is positively related to the female’s size. Lake Erie Watersnake’s historical diet has been largely replaced with Round Goby (Apollonia melanostomus), an invasive species that arrived in Lake Erie in the early 1990s. Population Sizes and Trends Lake Erie Watersnakes were reported in great numbers on several islands of western Lake Erie from the early 1800s and up to the early 1960s. Populations decreased in the latter half of the 20th century but are now increasing on U.S. islands, apparently associated with increased prey base from the introduction of Round Goby, which is an invasive fish. There is no information on trends on the Canadian islands, but the persistence of several threats suggests that populations may still be in decline. Threats and Limiting Factors Intentional and accidental human-induced mortality, particularly mortality on roads is likely the most significant threat to the species. Another important threat is the reduction of habitat quantity and quality. Additional threats include environmental contamination and elevated levels of predation. The small geographic range and small population size of Lake Erie Watersnake are limiting factors and increase the vulnerability of the snakes to perturbations. Protection, Status and Ranks Globally, NatureServe lists the Lake Erie Watersnake taxon as imperilled (global rank is G5T2). NatureServe lists Lake Erie Watersnake as imperilled (S2) in Ontario. In Canada, Lake Erie Watersnake was assessed as Endangered by COSEWIC in 1991 and 2006 and was added to Schedule 1 of the federal Species at Risk Act as Endangered in 2009. Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA; Government of Ontario 2007) came into force in 2008 and protection is provided for Lake Erie Watersnake (designated Endangered on the Species at Risk in Ontario List). Under Ontario’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, the taxon is considered a specially protected reptile. On Middle Island, the species is protected under the Canada National Parks Act. Lake Erie Watersnake was removed from the U.S. list of federally endangered and threatened species on August 16, 2011. Lake Erie Watersnake has a status of Endangered assigned by the state of Ohio. v TECHNICAL SUMMARY Nerodia sipedon insularum Lake Erie Watersnake Couleuvre d’eau du lac Érié Range of occurrence in Canada: Ontario Demographic Information Generation time (usually average age of parents in the ca. 6 yrs population; indicate if another method of estimating generation time indicated in the IUCN guidelines(2011) is being used) Is there an [observed, inferred, or projected] continuing decline in Yes, inferred continuing decline based on number of mature individuals? the persistence of several threats, including accidental and intentional mortality and habitat loss. Estimated percent of continuing decline in total number of mature Unknown individuals within [5 years or 2 generations] [Observed, estimated, inferred, or suspected] percent [reduction Unknown or increase] in total number of mature individuals over the last [10 years, or 3 generations]. [Projected or suspected] percent [reduction or increase] in total Unknown number of mature individuals over the next [10 years, or 3 generations]. [Observed, estimated, inferred, or suspected] percent [reduction Unknown or increase] in total number of mature individuals over any [10 years, or 3 generations] period, over a time period including both the past and the future. Are the causes of the decline a. clearly reversible and b. a. yes, for some of the causes understood and c. ceased? b. yes, for some of the causes c. yes, for some of the causes in some locations; no for several causes such as intentional and accidental mortality Are there extreme fluctuations in number of mature No individuals? Extent and Occupancy Information Estimated extent of occurrence 188 km² Index of area of occupancy (IAO) 2x2 grid value = 72 km² (Always report 2x2 grid value). Is the population “severely fragmented” ie. is >50% of its total a. no area of occupancy in habitat patches that are (a) smaller than would be required to support a viable population, and (b) b. no separated from other habitat patches by a distance larger than the species can be expected to disperse? vi Number of “locations”∗ (use plausible range to reflect
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