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Black Hills Redbelly Snake in the Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota and Wyoming

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Black Hills Redbelly Snake in the Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota and Wyoming United States Department of Agriculture Conservation Assessment Forest Service for the Redbelly Snake in Rocky Mountain Region the Black Hills National Black Hills National Forest South Dakota and Forest Custer, South Dakota Wyoming April 2003 Brian E. Smith and Nathan T. Stephens Conservation Assessment of the Black Hills Redbelly Snake in the Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota and Wyoming Brian E. Smith Nathan T. Stephens Department of Biology Black Hills State University 1200 University Street Unit 9044 Spearfish, South Dakota 57799-9044 [email protected] Correspondence to senior author Dr. Brian E. Smith is a professor at Black Hills State University, where he teaches a variety of courses in vertebrate biology and ecology. He maintains an active research program on the reptiles and amphibians of the Black Hills and surrounding plains region of South Dakota and Wyoming. He is also active in research on the conservation biology of reptiles and amphibians in the Lesser Antilles island chain in the Caribbean Ocean. He has published several papers on the reptiles and amphibians of the Black Hills and surrounding plains, the Caribbean region, and Central America. Mr. Nathan T. Stephens is a student at Black Hills State University. His research interests are conservation biology, wildlife biology, and herpetology. He has assisted in research on the Black Hills National Forest. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................................1 CURRENT MANAGEMENT SITUATION.................................................................................................................1 Management Status...................................................................................................................................................1 Existing Management Plans, Assessments, Or Conservation Strategies ..................................................................1 REVIEW OF TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE................................................................................................................1 Systematics ...............................................................................................................................................................1 Distribution And Abundance ....................................................................................................................................2 Population Trend.......................................................................................................................................................2 Movement Patterns ...................................................................................................................................................3 Habitat Characteristics..............................................................................................................................................3 Food Habits...............................................................................................................................................................4 Breeding Biology......................................................................................................................................................5 Demography .............................................................................................................................................................6 Community Ecology.................................................................................................................................................7 Risk Factors ..............................................................................................................................................................8 RESPONSE TO HABITAT CHANGE.........................................................................................................................9 Management Activities .............................................................................................................................................9 Timber Harvest ....................................................................................................................................................9 Recreation ............................................................................................................................................................9 Livestock Grazing..............................................................................................................................................10 Mining................................................................................................................................................................10 Prescribed Fire And Fire Suppression................................................................................................................10 Non-Native Plant Establishment And Control ...................................................................................................11 Fuelwood Harvest ..............................................................................................................................................11 Natural Disturbances...............................................................................................................................................11 Insect Epidemics ................................................................................................................................................12 Wildfire..............................................................................................................................................................12 Wind Events.......................................................................................................................................................12 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................................12 REVIEW OF CONSERVATION PRACTICES .........................................................................................................12 Management Practices And Management Models..................................................................................................12 Survey, Inventory, And Monitoring Approaches....................................................................................................13 Additional Information Needs ................................................................................................................................13 LITERATURE CITED................................................................................................................................................14 DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................................................................17 i INTRODUCTION The redbelly snake, Storeria occipitomaculata, is a small secretive snake of the eastern United States. The Black Hills redbelly snake, S. o. pahasapae, is a subspecies of the snake originally considered endemic to the Black Hills. Although common in certain localities, even in the Black Hills, its cryptic nature has stymied investigators that have worked on the biology of this species. Even its endemic status in the Black Hills is in doubt since one new specimen has been collected in an area previously thought to be outside of its range. In this conservation assessment, we review the literature on the species and suggest how to manage the species based on what we currently know. However, our most critical conclusion is that much more data needs to be collected to manage the species in the Black Hills and elsewhere. CURRENT MANAGEMENT SITUATION Management Status The redbelly snake, Storeria occipitomaculata, is considered sensitive or threatened by some states in the periphery of its range. Kansas lists the northern redbelly snake, S. o. occipitomaculata, as threatened. Wyoming and South Dakota list the Black Hills redbelly snake, S. o. pahasapae, as a species of concern due to its limited range and vulnerability to factors affecting the suitability of habitat within this range. Neither state grants the snake any special legal status. Within the Black Hills National Forest in Wyoming and South Dakota the Black Hills redbelly snake is considered sensitive by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service. Existing Management Plans, Assessments, Or Conservation Strategies There are no published management plans for Storeria occipitomaculata. REVIEW OF TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE Systematics The redbelly snake, Storeria occipitomaculata, is a small non-venomous colubrid snake (ca. 24- 25 cm snout vent length) with three described subspecies. Two of the three subspecies are found in eastern and midwestern North America. The third is a disjunct subspecies found in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming and recently collected in Perkins Co., about 6.4 km southeast of Bison, SD (Doug Backlund, unpublished data). Intergradation is known between some of these subspecies at the limits of their ranges (Trapido, 1944; Ernst, 1974; Rossman and Erwin, 1980). Dorsal coloration consists of three longitudinal stripes on a grayish to brownish background with light markings on the head and behind the eyes. A light-colored longitudinal stripe occurs mid-dorsally and darker stripes appear
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