Status and Distribution of the Rim Rock Crowned Snake, Tantilla Oolitica

352 ARTICLES

The Rim Rock Crowned Snake (Tantilla oolitica; Telford 1966) were officially recorded as of 2004 (Scott 2004). Tantilla oolitica is one of three species of small, burrowing snakes of the genus has been on the State of Florida’s Threatened Species list since Tantilla found in Florida, USA. Restricted to extreme southeast- 1975, yet there have been no dedicated range-wide field surveys ern Florida, its range traditionally has been defined as the east for the species. Given the species’ increasingly limited habitat coast of Miami-Dade Co. extending south to the Middle Florida and apparently small population, a better understanding of its Keys of Monroe Co., with its presence in the Lower Keys remain- status and options for its conservation are needed. ing uncertain (Campbell and Moler 1992). This area is highly de- Here I report the results of an extensive and intensive range- veloped and the rockland habitats this species has historically wide survey for T. oolitica between 2007 and 2010. In addition to depended upon have been reduced to less than half their origi- survey work, I conducted extensive reviews of the literature and nal extent (Enge et al. 2003; Snyder et al. 1990). In addition to its museum records and undertook wide-ranging personal inter- restricted range, this species is elusive and only 35 individuals views. My goal was to create a comprehensive understanding of T. oolitica’s distribution and current status to suggest conservation implications for this species. Kirsten N. Hines 260 Crandon Blvd, Ste 32 #190 Methods.—I conducted the study from 2007 to 2010 in south- Key Biscayne, Florida 33149, USA eastern Florida from northern Miami-Dade Co. through the e-mail: [email protected] Florida Keys to Key West. The study area covers all of the historical and potential habitat for the species. I concentrated on

Fig. 1. Range of Tantilla oolitica, including all sightings from 1934–2010 and all locations searched during this study.

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protected areas (parks, refuges, etc.) and occasionally private effort (person-hours). With few exceptions, I conducted concen- properties containing appropriate habitat—forests and pine- trated searches in the protected areas containing cover board ar- woods on a limestone substrate (Snyder et al. 1990), referred to rays on every visit between May 2007 and April 2008. During this locally as rockland hammocks and pine rocklands (FNAI 2010). period, I also searched other privately and publicly owned areas From 2007 to 2008, I focused on the core of the historical range containing appropriate habitat within this core area as permission from downtown Miami to Marathon in the Middle Keys. There- was granted. I searched protected areas and private lands at the after, I concentrated on the edges of the range, exploring the edges of T. oolitca’s historical range from 2009 to 2010. northern and western boundaries of the species in Miami-Dade I made information requests for T. oolitica records and find- Co. and potential habitat in the Lower Keys. ings at museums with known T. oolitica holdings, Florida Natu- I conducted the survey using cover board arrays and concen- ral Areas Inventory (FNAI), and the “Field Herp Forum” (www. trated searches. Cover board searches consisted of 1–3 arrays fieldherpforum.com). In addition, I contacted 102 researchers, in each of 12 protected areas for a total of 28 arrays. Each array resource managers, hobbyists and others who might encounter consisted of three 0.6 x 1.2 m pieces of 1.3 cm-thick plywood T. oolitica for information on potential sightings. I compiled and placed within a few meters of one another. I placed the boards mapped all sighting information gathered from reliable sources. in March 2007 and examined them every 1–2 months from May Results.—Cover boards were in the field for 880 days of sam- 2007 to April 2008, with one final check in August 2009. I thor- pling. I checked each of the 84 boards at least eight times during oughly searched all leaf litter under the cover boards at each visit. this period, with the 30 boards in Miami-Dade Co. being checked I conducted monthly concentrated searches between May 2007 nine times. Tantilla oolitica was not found under any of the and April 2008 with additional, less frequent searches continu- placed cover boards. A total of 393.4 person-hours were spent ing through October 2010. Searches consisted of all participants in concentrated searching for T. oolitica at 57 locations between spreading out within an area and systematically searching be- north Miami-Dade Co. and Key West at the south end of Monroe neath all moveable rocks, logs, and other cover items. I recorded a Co. (Fig. 1). These searches yielded two T. oolitica sightings (Fig. GPS location at the start of each survey period and recorded time 1). I saw one at the Barnacle Historic State Park in Coconut Grove at the start and end of the search to standardize findings by search (25.7259°N, 80.2434°W) on 8 May 2007 at 0845 h. This snake was discovered in hammock habitat in a loose pile of rock and moist, dark soil about 15 cm beneath the surface. The second T. oolitica was discovered during concentrated searches by Michael Roch-

N. H i n es N. ford at 0950 h on 25 May 2007 at Dove Creek Hammock in Key Largo (25.0322°N, 80.5018°W) (Fig. 2). This individual was in Kirs t e n Y

B hammock habitat coiled less than 10 cm beneath a rotting board O T in moist, dark soil. During the study period, three additional P HO sightings were reported. Opportunistic sightings occurred on Big Pine Key in 2007 (Yirka et al. 2010) and Key West in 2009 (R.

FU N D Sterling, pers. comm.). Zoo Miami staff caught an individual in a AIS pitfall trap at one of their pine rockland drift fence arrays in 2009

V B EAU (D. Smith, pers. comm.). Information requests yielded reports of 49 T. oolitica sightings T HOMAS between 1934 and 2010 (Table 1). Sources included 23 museum T HE Y

B specimens, 3 FNAI records, and personal accounts from 17 indi-

T ED viduals. Seventy-five percent of the people interviewed reported no T. oolitica sightings. Most interviewees who had seen T. oolitica reported one or two sightings of separate snakes with four being the maximum. There was only one, unprecedented, report of more than four observations by one person. Glenn Fried, for-

RE P RODU CTSU PP OR IO N mer naturalist at Bill Sadowski Park (25.6045°N, 80.3217°W) and

OLOR the Deering Estate (25.6130°N, 80.3091°W), reported observing C at least 33 individuals at those parks and a nearby abandoned lot (25.6078°N, 80.3114°W) between 1983 and 1998, including sightings of more than one snake at a time and repeated sightings of individuals. Given that these observations are so deviant from any others and are unsupported by documentation, I have included the sighting locations but have limited the counts to one per location. The overall distribution of T. oolitica as documented in this study is shown in Fig. 1. Thirty-two site locations from North Miami to Key West suggest the extent of present distribution. Within this range, T. oolitica is found both within its historical rockland habitats (16 sightings in hammock, pine rockland, or hammock ecotone; Table 1) and disturbed areas (19 sightings Fig. 2. Tantilla oolitica discovered in Key Largo, Monroe County, Flor- from roadsides, vacant lots, or open fields; Table 1). ida on 25 May 2007. Discussion.—This study increases the number of T. oolitica reports since the Scott (2004) account from 35 to 49 and

Herpetological Review 42(3), 2011 354 ARTICLES rockland* Habitat (# if more than 1) (# if more Habitat Pasture lot (2) Vacant lot Vacant adjacent to hammock Field Hammock Secondary Hammock ecotone Hammock-pineland Sidewalk Pine rockland Pine rockland Hammock Adandoned house and lot* Adandoned ecotone* Hammock-pineland ecotone and Pine Hammock-pineland hammock by Roadside backyard Private marina shore - 50 ft from Near hammock and edge Disturbed Pineland - in debris pile playground edge by Hammock lot vacant pine rockland, Disturbed County Miami-Dade St, th Location (all localities are within Florida, USA) within Florida, Location (all localities are County Miami-Dade Road, Cutler Old Chapman Field, County Monroe West, Key County Miami-Dade Gables, Coral County Miami-Dade Gables, Coral County Miami-Dade Kendall, County Miami-Dade SW Miami, County Monroe Largo, Key on North SR-905 County Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade & SW 24 Street, SW 27 Avenue County Miami-Dade & SW 24 Street, SW 27 Avenue County Miami-Dade Road, & Red Road Cutler Old County Monroe Largo, Key Waterway, Adams near Marvin D. County Monroe Key, Grassy County Monroe Key, Grassy County Monroe Largo, Key Tavernier, County Monroe Key, Plantation County Miami-Dade Park, Sadowski Bill County Miami-Dade US 1 & SW 154 Ave, County Miami-Dade & SW 178 St, b/n SW 168 St Road Cutler Old County Monroe Largo, (MM 105), Key Hammocks Creek North County Pineland, Miami-Dade Glenn Ned County Miami-Dade area, Bay slough in the Palmetto Cutler of Old West County Miami-Dade Park, Creek Arch and SW 176 Cutler Old County Miami-Dade Park, Sadowski Bill County Miami-Dade Cutler, Deering Estate at Old County Monroe Largo, Key on North SR-905 County Miami-Dade Pineland area, Ludlam County Monroe Largo, Key Park, State Reef Coral Pennekamp to John old entrance County Monroe (MM 81), Islamorada, Key Matecumbe Upper County Monroe Key, Matecumbe Lower County Miami-Dade Road, Cutler Old County Miami-Dade Miami, Zoo County Miami-Dade Park, Sadowski Bill County Miami-Dade Air Base, north of Homestead SW 112th Ave, Source MCZ (H. Loomis) MPM (H. Jungmann) CM (G. R. Campbell) KU (G. Knowles) Haast) USNM (W.E. Auffenberg) UF (W. UMMZ (A. Shwartz) KU (R. Patterson) Paulson) UF (D. Paulson) (D. LACM Krakauer) UF (T. UF (local resident) Wilson) UF (L.D. UF (J. Fernandez) Ehrig Robert Ehrig Robert Line & Robert Hammer Roger Barken) UF (T. UF (L. Porras) FNAI (K. Achor) Line Robert Line Robert FNAI (M. Minno) Fried Glenn Fried Glenn Fried Glenn Moler) FNAI (P. Line Robert UF (A. Nielson) UF Decker Jonathon UF (G. Dalrymple) Jimenez Dave Gouldener Barbara Burgess Joe Month January March March May March April October April April April September February June July November May–June March March May May–June May–June April May May–June March May Summer June August sightings between 1934 to 2010. Museum acronyms are based on Sabaj Pérez (2010) if available: MCZ (Museum of Comparative Zoology), MPM Zoology), of Comparative MCZ (Museum (2010) if available: Pérez based on Sabaj are acronyms 1934 to 2010. Museum oolitica sightings between of Tantilla reports 1. Compiled a b le (Milwaukee Public Museum), CM (Carnegie Museum of Natural History), KU (University of Kansas Natural History Museum), USNM (United States National Museum of Natural History), UF of Natural Museum National States USNM (United History Museum), Natural of Kansas History), KU (University of Natural Museum CM (Carnegie Museum), Public (Milwaukee Natural FNAI (Florida of Los Angeles County), History Museum (Natural LACM of Zoology), Museum of Michigan (University History), UMMZ of Natural Museum Florida of Florida, (University Inventory). Areas Year 1934 1938 1941 1945 1948 1950 1951 1954 1955 1955 1969 1976 1978 1978 1979 1979 1980s 1980 1981 1982 1982 1982 1983 1983–1998 T 1983–1998 1983–1998 1984 1984 1985 1988 1988 1989 1991 1992 1992–1994

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confirms that the species range extends through the entire Florida Keys, matching the distribution of rockland hammock and surround- ing pine rocklands. Historically, these habitats, supported by the rela- tively high ground of the limestone ridge (Lodge 2010), represented the only areas protected from flooding during the wet season. Drain- age has created additional dry lands, but there is no evidence of T. oolitica leaving the rockland habitat footprint to inhabit previously submerged habitats, such as former marsh. Instead, as its scientific name suggests, much of the distribution of this species coincides with oolitic limestone (Miami Limestone) found in Miami-Dade Co. and the lower portions of the Florida Keys in Monroe Co. It also occurs on the Key Largo Limestone substrate found in the upper Florida Keys

Habitat (# if more than 1) (# if more Habitat snake) coral (2 inside roadkill Roadside snake) coral (1 inside roadkill Roadside and edge Hammock of park area Maintenance Roadside and edge Hammock - roadkill Roadside - in rockpile Hammock board - under rotting Hammock heap lot/ trash Abandoned - in wood pile backyard Private Pineland - in pitfall trap (Hoffmeister 1974; Randazzo and Halley 1997). Within Miami-Dade Co. it is restricted to the modestly elevated, narrow outcropping of limestone called the Miami Rock Ridge, which historically was a narrow peninsula of upland bordered by Biscayne Bay to the east and the Everglades to the west, but now is home to metropolitan Miami. It is difficult to assess population size of T. oolitica because the species is not only rare, but elusive. Many Florida herpetologists (researchers and hobbyists) have never seen one despite their attempts to do so. A study by Enge et al. (2004) targeting T. oolitica in six Miami- Dade Co. parks failed to find any. Staff at Zoo Miami began reptile surveys with coverboards and drift fence arrays with pitfall traps in 2005. They expanded their trapping efforts in 2007 to specifically search for T. oolitica (S. Conners, pers. comm.). In all this effort, they found one T. oolitica in a pitfall trap in August 2009 (D. Smith, pers. comm.). In my study, 84 coverboards and over 393 person-hours of searching over a three-year period yielded only two T. oolitica sightings. Even on the Field Herp Forum, a venue for some of the most avid and successful field herpetologists, T. oolitica is one of the species most commonly lamented as lacking in South Florida reptile life lists. The success rate in finding T. oolitica is both historically and currently low, making population size estimates virtually impossible. Looking at observation rates instead, there is an indication of population stability since the numbers of sightings in the last ten years are comparable with those in previous decades. However, we have no way of verifying this population trend and a lack of repeated observations at any given location leaves room for concern. Sites at and around Bill Sadowski Park in Miami and in Marathon of the Florida Keys yielded multiple sightings in the past. This trend Location (all localities are within Florida, USA) within Florida, Location (all localities are County Monroe Largo, Key Ave, Bonito County Monroe Largo, Key on North SR-905 County Monroe Key, Vaca Marathon, County Monroe Largo, Key Park, State Reef Coral Pennekamp John County Monroe Key, Vaca Marathon, County Monroe Key, Vaca Marathon, County Monroe Largo, Key St, Runner Blue County Miami-Dade Grove, Coconut SP, Historic Barnacle County Monroe Largo, Key Hammock, Creek Dove County Monroe Pine Key, Big County Monroe West, Key County Miami-Dade Miami, Zoo seems to have stopped despite recent efforts to uncover this species. Some areas have been lost to development, but even protected Bill Sadowski Park has failed to yield sightings in almost 20 years after af- fording three over a ten-year period in the 1980s to 1990s. I placed nine coverboards at this park and spent 25.3 person-hours searching the property, but found nothing. Repeated sightings are admittedly the exception rather than the rule for this species, but many of the people I interviewed speculated that T. oolitica was not being seen, particularly in these areas of repeated sightings, because people were not looking for them. My study suggests otherwise. It was designed as a mark-recapture study, but that component never came to fruition Source Duquesnel & Janice Jim Duquesnel Jim UF (J. Decker) Nemec Joseph UF (J. Decker) Decker Jonathon UF (J. Duquesnel) (this study) Kirsten Hines (this study) Rochford Michael Yirka & Adrian Shepard Nathan Sterling Randy Jimenez Dave because I never observed T. oolitica more than once at any given location despite repeated efforts. Although these results are insufficient for making population estimates, they do highlight the rarity of the species. While much remains unknown about T. oolitica, it is clear that the species faces many threats. Less than 2% of the historical pine Month April June October October May May December Spring August rocklands on the Miami Rock Ridge currently remain, and hardwood hammocks both in Miami-Dade Co. and throughout the Florida Keys have been reduced to less than half their original extent (Enge et al. 1. Continued. 2003; Snyder et al. 1990). Fragmentation eliminates immigration be- a b le tween patches, and in an urban setting inevitably translates into road Year 1992–1996 1992–1996 1996 1997 2000 2002 2004 2007 2007 2007 2009 2009 section) number of sightings (see explanation in Results *Unkown T

Herpetological Review 42(3), 2011 356 ARTICLES

fatalities (Table 1). However, T. oolitica does seem able to persist Enge, K. M., B. A. Millsap, T. J. Doonan, J. A. Gore, N. J. Douglass, M. within remaining fragments. Conservation requires protection S. Robson, and G. L. Sprandel. 2003. Conservation plans for biotic of these fragments, which is generally the case in Miami-Dade regions in Florida that contain multiple rare or declining wildlife Co., but not in the Florida Keys where development and saltwa- taxa. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Talla- ter intrusion associated with sea level rise continue (Ross et al. hassee, Florida. 146 pp. 1994; USFWS 1999). Proper management of habitat fragments –––––, M. S. Robson, and K. L. Krysko. 2004. Reptile surveys of six Mi- for T. oolitica includes protection from non-native species, illegal ami-Dade County parks. Florida Sci. 67(3):194–204. dumping and altered fire and hydrology patterns (USFWS 1999), Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). 2010. the latter likely being the most critical. South Florida’s water ta- Florida’s endangered and threatened species. Florida Fish and ble has dropped by as much 1.2 m in areas (Sklar et al. 2002), cre- Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida. 10 pp. Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI). 2010. Guide to the natural ating drier rockland habitats than historic conditions (USFWS communities of Florida: 2010 edition. Florida Natural Areas In- 1999). Centipedes, probably the main food source for T. oolitica ventory, Tallahassee, Florida. 217 pp. (Campbell and Moler 1992; Todd et al. 2008), require moist con- Hammerson, G. A. 2007. Tantilla oolitica. In IUCN 2010. IUCN red ditions (Koehler and Oi 2003). Patch management must involve list of threatened species. Version 2010.4. IUCN, www.iucnredlist. rehydration. org. Accessed 26 February 2011. Tantilla oolitica is currently listed as Threatened by the State Hoffmeister, J. E. 1974. Land from the Sea—the Geologic Story of of Florida (FWC 2010) and as Endangered by the International South Florida. University of Miami Press, Coral Gables, Florida. Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List (Hammerson 143 pp. 2007) based on restricted range and loss of habitat. This study Koehler, P. G., and F. M. Oi. 2003. Pillbugs, sowbugs, centipedes, mil- confirms the appropriateness of these designations. The species lipedes and earwigs. Document ENY-221, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Gainesville, Florida. also merits protection under the Federal Endangered Species 10 pp. Act, under the provisions for “the present or threatened destruc- Lodge, T. E. 2010. The Everglades Handbook. 3rd ed. CRC Press, Boca tion, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range” and Raton, Florida. 392 pp. “the natural or manmade factors affecting its survival” (USFWS Randazzo, A. F., and R. B. Halley. 1997. Geology of the Florida Keys. In 2010). A. F. Randazzo and D. S. Jones (eds.), The Geology of Florida, pp. Because of its scattered distribution across landscapes man- 251–259. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. aged by diverse entities, a formal comprehensive conservation Ross, M. S., J. J. O’Brien, and L. S. L. Sternberg. 1994. Sea-level rise plan is needed. The plan’s components, in addition to patch and the reduction in pine forests in the Florida Keys. Ecol. Appl. management, should include monitoring on all sites where it 4(1):144–156. occurs (utilizing a combination of concentrated searches, cover- Sabaj Pérez, M. H. (ed.). 2010. Standard symbolic codes for institu- tional resource collections in herpetology and ichthyology: an on- board arrays, and drift fences with pitfall traps), an educational line reference. Version 1.5 (4 Oct 2010). Electronically accessible campaign to increase public awareness, an official information at http://www.asih.org/, American Society of Ichthyologists and repository, a captive breeding population and re-introduction Herpetologists, Washington, DC. since natural dispersion among patches is no longer viable. Scott, C. 2004. Endangered and Threatened Animals of Florida and their Habitats. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas. 315 pp. Acknowledgments.—Funding for this research was provided by Sklar, F., C. McVoy, R. VanZee, D. E. Gawlik, K. Tarboton, D. Rudnick, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Zoo Miami Conservation S. Miao, and T. Armentano. 2002. The effects of altered hydrology and Research Fund. This project was begun under the auspices of the on the ecology of the Everglades. In J. W. Porter and K. G. Porter Institute for Regional Conservation (IRC), which provided additional (eds.), The Everglades, Florida Bay, and Coral Reefs of the Florida logistic support, as did the University of Florida. At IRC, I particularly Keys: An Ecosystem Sourcebook, pp. 39–82. CRC Press, Boca Ra- thank Keith Bradley and Patty Castillo-Trenn, for assistance in ton, Florida. starting this project. I thank John Iverson for project planning Snyder, J. R., A. Herndon, and W. B. Robertson, Jr. 1990. South Florida advice, 27 volunteers for field assistance, museum staff and others Rockland. In R. L. Myers and J. J. Ewel (eds.), Ecosystems of Florida, who provided data, various permitting authorities and site managers pp. 230–277. University of Central Florida Press, Orlando, Florida. who allowed this research, and 102 interviewees, particularly Steve Telford, S. R., Jr. 1966. Variation among the southeastern crowned Conners, Jonathon Decker, Glenn Fried, Louis Porras, Dustin Smith, snakes, genus Tantilla. Bull. Florida State Mus., Biol. Sci. 10: 261– and Randy Sterling. I especially thank Michael Rochford who found 304. one of the snakes included in this study, Dustin Smith who was vital Todd, B. D., J. D. Willson, C. T. Winne, R. D. Semlitsch, and J. W. Gib- in the continuation and expansion of this project, and James Kushlan bons. 2008. Ecology of the southeastern crowned snake, Tantilla for comments on the manuscript. coronata. Copeia 2008(2):388–394. United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1999. South Florida Multi-species Recovery Plan. Atlanta, Georgia. 2,172 pp. Literature Cited –––––. 2010. Listing and critical habitat: overview. Endangered Spe- cies Program, www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/listing- Campbell, H. W., and P. E. Moler. 1992. Rim rock crowned snake, Tan- tilla oolitica Telford. In P. E. Moler (ed.), Rare and Endangered Bi- overview.html. Accessed 15 November 2010. ota of Florida, Volume III, Amphibians and Reptiles, pp. 158–161. Yirka, M. A., J. N. Flowers, M. D. Martin, K. R. Messenger, and N. A. hepard Tantilla oolitica University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. S . 2010. Geographic distribution: (Rim Rock crowned snake). Herpetol. Rev. 41(3):382.

Herpetological Review 42(3), 2011