University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-2006 Historical Processes, Evolutionary Change, and Phenotypic Plasticity: Geographic Variation in Behavior, Morphology, and Life- History Traits of Common Gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis, Populations John S. Playk Jr. University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Life Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Playk, John S. Jr., "Historical Processes, Evolutionary Change, and Phenotypic Plasticity: Geographic Variation in Behavior, Morphology, and Life-History Traits of Common Gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis, Populations. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2006. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/1843 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by John S. Playk Jr. entitled "Historical Processes, Evolutionary Change, and Phenotypic Plasticity: Geographic Variation in Behavior, Morphology, and Life-History Traits of Common Gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis, Populations." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Gordon M. Burghardt, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Christine R. B. Boake, Arthur C. Echternacht, Randall L. Small Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council, I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by John S. Placyk, Jr., entitled “Historical Processes, Evolutionary Change, and Phenotypic Plasticity: Geographic Variation in Behavior, Morphology, and Life-History Traits of Common Gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis, Populations.” I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Gordon M. Burghardt Major Professor Christine R.B. Boake Department Head We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Christine R.B. Boake Arthur C. Echternacht Randall L. Small Acceptance for the Council: Anne Mayhew Vice Chancellor and Dean of Graduate Studies (Original signatures are on file with official students records) HISTORICAL PROCESSES , EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE, AND PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY: GEO GRAPHIC VARIATION IN BEHAVIOR, MORPHOLOGY, AND LIFE-HISTORY TRAITS OF COMMON GARTERSNAKE, THAMNOPHIS SIRTALIS, POPULATIONS A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville John S. Placyk, Jr. August 2006 Copyright © 2006 John S. Placyk, Jr. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to Fuzzy and Sunny, two faithful and loving friends that were lost along the way. May they be frolicking and napping in the sun of another place. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I’d like to start by saying that it will be impossible for me to remember the name of every person that helped me with this project in the last six years, so as you read on and notice that your name is absent, I apologize in advance for my poor memory and thank you for whatever it was you assisted me with. To begin, I must thank my doctoral committee chair, Dr. Gordon M. Burghardt, for providing guidance, lab space, funding, patience, and both solicited and unsolicited advice. Gordon is like a walking behavior, evolution, and reptile encyclopedia and without his knowledge and advisement, this dissertation would be worth much less. Thanks also to my committee members, Dr. Chris Boake, Dr. Sandy Echternacht, and Dr. Randy Small. Chris for her no nonsense style and for taking on yet “another snake project,” Sandy for being a role model of a herpetologist, and Randy for helping me to become a gel jockey, a skill that was missing from my toolbox. Drs. Paul and Hazel Delcourt also provided their expertise early on in my doctoral research and helped me to better understand the history of my study sites and of Michigan in general. Special thanks to all of those that have helped facilitate my research by helping to collect data and catch snakes, providing research and, sometimes, living space, assisting with my thought processes and helping me to understand where I wanted to go with this work. The greatest help came in the form of Dr. Jim Gillingham and the researchers and staff of the Central Michigan University Biological Station on Beaver Island. Jim provided me with lab space, a roof over my head (even though it was most likely made of iv OSB), research supplies, transportation to and from islands, vehicles, and other types of support. If it were not for “his” field station, much of this work would not have been possible. While spending two summers on Beaver Island, I made some great friendships and was assisted by some great folks including Adam Nelson, Jamie Pejza, Mike Seider, Jayme Rogers, Sarah Davidson, Kerry Hansknecht, Lisa McDonald and her parents Ron and Bert, Stephanie Schlitler, Dr. John Rowe, Dr. Beth Leuck, Kenny Bowen, Amy Boetcher, Josh Picotte, Dr. Dave Clark, and Theresa Barber. Dr. Brent Graves provided me with lab and living space during my stays in the upper peninsula of Michigan and has always been a role model when it comes to being a great scientist. I thank Brent for not only helping with my doctoral research but for being a great advisor well after I finished my M.S. with him. Also thanks to Jon Lobello, Denise Seubert, Dave Pickering, Nathan Forst, Joe Werner, Kari Stanley, Dr. Mac Strand, and Joanne and Jack Wofford for providing entertainment, places to crash, and camaraderie during my stays in da’ UP. Of course, the field work was only half of what needed to be done for my research, the other half involved tending to pregnant female snakes and their offspring, as well as testing offspring. This component of my research was all conducted in Gordon’s lab at the University of Tennessee and involved an army of undergraduates, most of whose names evade me. Those I do remember include Michael Boling, Sam and Richard, John Paul, and especially Stephanie Drumheller for counting ventral scales on stinky, dead baby snakes. In addition, special thanks to many past and present members of the Burghardt lab for providing support in a variety of ways, especially Dr. Paul Andreadis, Kerry v Hansknecht, Jennifer Manrod, Lynn Almli (even though she gave our couch to the Echternacht lab), Karen Davis, Dr. Mark Krause, Dr. Jesus Rivas, Dr. Julie Albright, Matthew Bealor, Dr. Harry Greene, and Dr. Matthew Kramer. Other folks at the University of Tennessee that have been helpful include Nadia Ayoub, Dr. Todd Campbell, Dr. Stan Guffey, Monica Beals, Rachel Goodman, Nathan Turnbough, Bridget Donaldson, Jason Leonard, Michael Doosey, Dr. Neil Greenberg, Drs. Florencia and Diego, Dr. Tad Fukami, and the Small lab including Dr. Joey Shaw, John Beck, Dwayne Estes, Wushen Lui, Charles Winder, and Dr. Ed Lickey. Of course, I must not forget the staff of the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Linda, Cheryl, Phyllis, and Pearl, and the staff of the Department of Psychology, Connie, Louise, Madge, Karen, Sandy, and Anne, as without their support, my life as a graduate student could have been very miserable. Thanks to the other researchers that I’ve encountered along the way that have shown interest in and offered assistance with this research including Dr. Gary Casper, Dr. Rich King, Jace Robinson, Dr. Frank Burbrink, Jim Harding, Dr. Ronald Gratz, Dr. Steve Beupre, Dr. Susan Foster, and Briar Howes. Also, special thanks to all that have supported my research financially including the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee, Gordon Burghardt, and the National Science Foundation. One of the only reasons that I stayed sane throughout the entire journey that was my graduate career is the relaxation and downtime provided to me by the following vi artists, performers, actors, authors, personalities, and fictional characters: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Tony Bennett, Bing Crosby, Peter Lawler, Joey Bishop, Johnny Cash, Ozzy Osbourne, The Rolling Stones, B. B. King, Johnny Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Aretha Franklin, Michael Bublé, Tool, The John Corbett Band, Jake and Elwood Blues, Uncle Willie, Marcus, Thurman Merman, Bernie Mac, John Ritter, Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, Walter, Donny, The Jesus, nihilists, marmots and amphibious rodents, the Tenenbaum family, Napoleon Dynamite and Pedro, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Lewis Carroll, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, William Faulkner, J. K. Rowling, J. D. Salinger, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Peter Jackson, George Lucas, Tim Burton, Gene Roddenberry, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Steven Spielberg, Frank Oz, Hugh Grant, Billy Mack, William Shatner, Howard Stern, Eric “Mancow” Muller, Tammy Bruce, Dave Ramsey, Sir Ian McKellen,