Movements, habitat use, and survival of the threatened eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) in Georgia

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Hyslop, Natalie L.
Copyright Year	2007
Abstract	The threatened eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi), native to the southeastern Coastal Plain of the United States, has experienced population declines because of habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation caused primarily by development, fire exclusion, some forestry practices, and agriculture. We radiotracked eastern indigo snakes from January 2003 to December 2004 on Fort Stewart Military Reservation and adjacent private lands in Georgia to examine habitat use, movements, and home ranges. We estimated annual and seasonal home ranges and evaluated candidate models for home range size using an information-theoretic approach. We analyzed habitat use hierarchically, examining use within home ranges and across study sites. Annual home ranges were large (minimum convex polygon: x male = 510 ha; x female = 101 ha), possibly representing the largest values yet reported for a North American snake species. Home range size was associated negatively with use of habitats managed primarily for wildlife compared to areas used mostly for commercial timber production. Habitat use analyses on Gap Analysis Program habitat categories suggested positive selection for wetland, evergreen forest, pine-hardwood forest, and field habitats, with an avoidance of roads, urban areas, and deciduous forests. Snakes used the highest diversity of habitats as they transitioned from uplands used in winter and early spring to wetlands, clearcuts, and uplands (other than sandhills) used in summer; however, snakes continued to use sandhill habitats throughout warmer months. Because of the large amount of land and variety of habitats used by indigo snakes, we recommend that a shift in management and conservation goals to include eastern indigo snakes, as an umbrella species, may benefit more species and assist in larger-scale biodiversity conservation. In Georgia, we suggest that conservation of large tracts of undeveloped land is
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Alternate Webpage(s)	http://plaza.ufl.edu/nhyslop/Publications/hyslop_natalie_l_200705_phd.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article