Differential Habitat Use by Common Watersnakes (Nerodia Sipedon)
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Stephen F. Austin State University SFA ScholarWorks Faculty Publications Biology 2013 Differential Habitat Use by Common Watersnakes (Nerodia Sipedon) Lorin A. Neuman-Lee Andrew M. Durso Nicholas M. Kiriazis Melanie J. Olds Stephen J. Mullin Stephen F Austin State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/biology Part of the Biology Commons Tell us how this article helped you. Repository Citation Neuman-Lee, Lorin A.; Durso, Andrew M.; Kiriazis, Nicholas M.; Olds, Melanie J.; and Mullin, Stephen J., "Differential Habitat Use by Common Watersnakes (Nerodia Sipedon)" (2013). Faculty Publications. 99. https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/biology/99 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Biology at SFA ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of SFA ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & IRCFAMPHIBIANS REPTILES • VOL 15,& NAMPHIBIANSO 4 • DEC 2008 •189 20(4):166–171 • DEC 2013 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE ARTICLES Differential. Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayiHabitat) in Wisconsin: Use by Common On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 . The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: A WatersnakesHypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................ (Nerodia sipedonRobert W. Henderson) 198 Lorin A.RESEARCH Neuman-Lee ARTICLES1,2, Andrew M. Durso1,2, Nicholas M. Kiriazis1,3, Melanie J. Olds1,4, and Stephen J. Mullin1 . The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 1Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois 61920, USA . The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida 2 Present ............................................. address: DepartmentBrian of Biology,J. Camposano, Utah Kenneth State L. University, Krysko, Kevin Logan, M. Enge, Utah Ellen 84321,M. Donlan, USA and ([email protected]) Michael Granatosky 212 3Present address: School of Teacher Education and Leadership, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84321, USA CONSERVATION4Present address: ALERT Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Bushkill, Pennsylvania 18324, USA . World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 . More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225 Abstract.—UnderstandingHUSBANDRY intraspecific variation in habitat use is important for the management of any species. In . Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226 many studies of reptiles, habitat use by juveniles is poorly understood when compared to their adult conspecifics because of capturePROFILE biases and logistical constraints. We compared habitat use between sexes and age classes of Common Watersnakes (Nerodia. Kraig Adler: sipedon A Lifetime) at Promoting a reservoir Herpetology in central ................................................................................................ Illinois. Juvenile N. sipedon occurred Michael L. more Treglia frequently234 in habitat with high canopyCOMMENTARY cover, whereas adult N. sipedon, especially reproductive females, were found exclusively in habitat with no canopy cover.. The Turtles Adult Have males Been Watching used Me both ........................................................................................................................ locations equally. We emphasize the need to Eric investigate Gangloff 238 ontogenetic varia- tion in habitatBOOK use to betterREVIEW understand how reptiles utilize diverse anthropogenically altered landscapes. Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, n order to effectively comprehendR. Berridge, P. Ramani, the and biology B.E. Young of.............................................................................................................. a species, Madsen 1984, Reinert 1984, Robert Shine Powell 1987),243 a technique that is an understanding of habitat use by all life-history stages often limited to focal individuals (usually having larger body I CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 is necessary. Studies NATURALthat investigate HISTORY RESEARCHa single species REPORTS usually: Summaries of Publishedsizes) Reportsover ona Naturalrelatively History short................................. time period. 247 Studies of aquatic rely on radio telemetry NEWBRIEFS (Carfagno ...................................................................................................................................................................................... and Weatherhead 2006, snakes have emphasized the importance 248 of investigating onto- EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251 FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252 Front Cover. Shannon Plummer. Back Cover. Michael Kern Totat et velleseque audant mo Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as accullabo. Fig. 1. Adult female Common Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon). Photograph by N.M. Kiriazis. Copyright © 2013. Lorin A. Neuman-Lee. All rights reserved. 166 NEUMAN-LEE ET AL. IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 20(4):166–171 • DEC 2013 is constrained by basic logistics of snake and transmitter size. Long-term data on juvenile habitat use should inform popu- lation management efforts, especially in cases where juveniles differ from adults in their patterns of habitat use. We monitored a population of Common Watersnakes (Nerodia sipedon; Figs. 1 & 2) over a period of five years at two adjacent sites. We examined the effect that differences in habitat have on variation in use by different life-history stages of N. sipedon. We predicted that juvenile N. sipedon would use different habitats from adult snakes due to their smaller size and different prey requirements. Further, due to sexual dimorphism and different thermoregulatory requirements, we predicted that adult male and female N. sipedon would occur with differing frequencies in the two habitats. Fig. 2. Juvenile Common Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon). Photograph by L.A. Neuman-Lee. Materials and Methods Study Site.—The study site is located at the Charleston Side-Channel Reservoir in Coles County, Illinois, USA genetic variation in habitat use before making generalizations (39.464875°N, -88.143871°W; WGS 84), a 142-ha (Lacy 1995, Savitzky and Burghardt 2000). Habitat use of impoundment of the Embarras River. The river flows along a aquatic juvenile snakes often is difficult to observe, however, channel and over a low-head dam to the southeast of a levee. because of capture biases (Rodda et al. 2007, Semlitsch and Upstream from the dam, water is pumped from the river into Moran 1984, Todd et al. 2007, Willson et al. 2008) and the the reservoir, which is west of the levee and has negligible flow size constraints of radio transmitters (Pattishall and Cundall (Austen et al. 1993). Within this site, we sampled two distinct 2008, Roth and Greene 2006, Tiebout and Cary 1987). riparian habitats, the levee (Fig. 3) and the spillway/dam (Fig. Recently, researchers have examined juvenile pitviper ecology 4), that are separated by 180 m of straight-line distance and using advancements in transmitter technology (Cobb et al. 260 m of river length. We measured canopy cover at five loca- 2005, Jellen and Kowalski 2007), yet this type of work still tions within each habitat using a spherical densiometer. Fig. 3. View of the levee separating the Embarras River and Charleston Side-Channel Reservoir in Coles County, Illinois. Photograph by L.A. Neuman-Lee. 167 NEUMAN-LEE ET AL. IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 20(4):166–171 • DEC 2013 Fig. 4. View of the dam/spillway on the Embarras River in Coles County, Il linois. Photograph by S.J. Mullin. Animal Collection.—We collected snakes during 5–16 analyses. We did not include recaptures in any analysis. We days between 27 March and 18 September in each of five compared the number of animals of each sex and age