Species Status Assessment (SSA) Report for the Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon Couperi) Version 1.1 July 8, 2019
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Species Status Assessment (SSA) Report for the Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon couperi) Version 1.1 July 8, 2019 Photo Credit: Dirk J. Stevenson U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region Atlanta, GA ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The research for this document was prepared by Michele Elmore (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) – Georgia Ecological Services), Linda LaClaire (USFWS – Mississippi Ecological Services), Mark Endries (USFWS - Asheville, North Carolina, Ecological Services), Michael Marshall (USFWS Region 4 Office), Stephanie DeMay (Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute), with technical assistance from Drew Becker and Erin Rivenbark (USFWS Region 4 Office). Valuable peer reviews of a draft of this report were provided by: Dr. David Breininger (Kennedy Space Center), Dr. Natalie Hyslop (North Georgia University), Dr. Chris Jenkins (The Orianne Society), Dirk Stevenson (Altamaha Environmental Consulting, LLC), John Jensen and Matt Elliot (Georgia Department of Natural Recourses) and multiple reviewers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Suggested reference: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2019. Species status assessment report for the eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi). Version 1.1, July, 2019. Atlanta, Georgia. Summary of Version Update The changes from version 1.0 (November 2018) to 1.1 (July 2019) are minor and do not change the SSA analysis for the eastern indigo snake. The changes were: 1) Various editorial corrections were made throughout the document. 2) Added clarifying information in Sections 2.4 and 5.1 regarding eastern indigo snake records. 3) Revised Sections 2.2 and 4.4 to include additional relevant references and restructured to clarify content. References updated throughout report including References section. 4) Revised Section 6.1 and Appendix E to clarify content. 2 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 2 – SPECIES INFORMATION AND INDIVIDUAL NEEDS ............................................... 11 2.1 Species Description ......................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Taxonomy and Genetics ................................................................................................................. 12 2.3 Historical Range and Distribution................................................................................................. 15 2.4 Current Range and Distribution ................................................................................................... 16 2.4.1 Panhandle .................................................................................................................................. 18 Alabama .............................................................................................................................................. 18 Mississippi .......................................................................................................................................... 19 Florida Panhandle ............................................................................................................................... 20 2.4.2 North Florida ............................................................................................................................. 22 2.4.3 Peninsular Florida ..................................................................................................................... 24 2.4.4 Southeast Georgia ...................................................................................................................... 26 2.5 Individual Needs .............................................................................................................................. 28 2.5.1 Life History ................................................................................................................................ 28 2.5.2 Habitat ....................................................................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 3 – POPULATION AND SPECIES NEEDS .......................................................................... 34 3.1 Population Resiliency ...................................................................................................................... 34 3.2 Species Representation ................................................................................................................... 37 3.3 Species Redundancy ........................................................................................................................ 38 CHAPTER 4 – FACTORS INFLUENCING VIABILITY ........................................................................ 38 4.1 Habitat Modification and Destruction .......................................................................................... 39 4.2 Direct Mortality .............................................................................................................................. 42 4.3 Climate Conditions ......................................................................................................................... 44 4.4 Disease .............................................................................................................................................. 44 4.5 Gopher Tortoise Populations ......................................................................................................... 47 4.6 Collection ......................................................................................................................................... 47 4.7 Other ................................................................................................................................................ 48 4.8 Conservation Efforts ....................................................................................................................... 49 4.9 Summary of Factors Influencing the Eastern Indigo Snake ....................................................... 56 3 CHAPTER 5 – CURRENT CONDITIONS ............................................................................................... 56 5.1 Methodology - Analytical Units ..................................................................................................... 56 5.2 Resiliency ......................................................................................................................................... 61 5.2.1 Population Factors that Influence Resiliency ............................................................................ 61 5.2.2 Habitat Factors that Influence Resiliency .................................................................................. 62 5.2.3 Overall Resiliency Calculations ................................................................................................. 67 5.3 Representation ................................................................................................................................. 69 5.4 Redundancy ..................................................................................................................................... 70 5.5 Conservation Status ........................................................................................................................ 72 5.6 Current Condition Summary ......................................................................................................... 74 CHAPTER 6 – FUTURE CONDITIONS .................................................................................................. 75 6.1 Future Considerations .................................................................................................................... 75 6.2 Future Scenarios ............................................................................................................................. 79 6.3 Resiliency ......................................................................................................................................... 81 6.3.1 Scenario A (Low Development) ................................................................................................. 84 6.3.2 Scenario B (Moderate Development) ......................................................................................... 85 6.3.3 Scenario C (High Development) ................................................................................................ 87 6.3.4 Scenario D (Targeted Conservation) ......................................................................................... 88 6.4 Representation and Redundancy ................................................................................................... 90 6.5 Future Condition Summary ........................................................................................................... 92 6.6 Status Assessment Summary.......................................................................................................... 95 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 97 APPENDIX A – Home Range Comparison Data and Habitat ................................................................. 113 APPENDIX B – Current Conditions Methods ........................................................................................