Intraspecific and interspecific variation in use of forest-edge habitat by snakes

Canadian Journal of Zoology

Volumn 84, Issue 10, 2006, Pages 1440-1452

  Carfagno, Gerardo L F ^a   Weatherhead, Patrick J ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA CHAMPAIGN   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ECOLOGY; FORESTRY;

FOREST INTERIOR SPECIES; RATSNAKES; THERMOREGULATORY NEEDS;

BIODIVERSITY;

EDGE EFFECT; FOREST EDGE; HABITAT FRAGMENTATION; HABITAT SELECTION; HABITAT USE; INTERSPECIFIC VARIATION; INTRASPECIFIC VARIATION; PREY AVAILABILITY; SEASONAL VARIATION; SNAKE; THERMOREGULATION;

BIODIVERSITY; ECOLOGY; FORESTS;

CANADA; ILLINOIS; NORTH AMERICA; ONTARIO [CANADA]; UNITED STATES;

AVES; COLUBER; COLUBER CONSTRICTOR; PANTHEROPHIS OBSOLETUS; RATTUS; SERPENTES;

EID: 33846650724     PISSN: 00084301     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1139/Z06-124     Document Type: Article

References (77)

1. Adolph, S.C. 1990. Influence of behavioral thermoregulation on microhabitat use by two Sceloporus lizards. Ecology, 71: 315-327. doi:10.2307/1940271.
2. Aebischer, N.J., Robertson, P.A., and Kenward, R.E. 1993. Compositional analysis of habitat use from animal radio-tracking data. Ecology, 74: 1313-1325. doi:10.2307/1940062.
3. Andren, H. 1992. Corvid density and nest predation in relation to forest fragmentation: a landscape perspective. Ecology, 73: 794-804. doi:10.2307/1940158.
4. Andren, H., and Angelstam, P. 1988. Elevated predation rates as an edge effect in habitat islands: experimental evidence. Ecology, 69: 544-547. doi:10.2307/1940455.
5. Batary, P., and Baldi, A. 2004. Evidence of an edge effect on avian nest success. Conserv. Biol. 18: 389-400. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2004.00184. x.
6. Bauwens, D., Garland, T., Castilla, A.M., and Van Damme, R. 1995. Evolution of sprint speed in lacertid lizards: morphological, physiological, and behavioral covariation. Evolution, 49: 848-863. doi:10.2307/2410408.
7. Blouin-Demers, G., and Weatherhead, P.J. 2001a. Habitat use by black rat snakes (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta) in fragmented forest. Ecology, 82: 2882-2896. doi:10.2307/2679968.
8. Blouin-Demers, G., and Weatherhead, P.J. 2001b. Thermal ecology of black rat snakes (Elaphe obsoleta) in a thermally challenging environment. Ecology, 82: 3025-3043. doi:10.2307/2679832.
9. Blouin-Demers, G., and Weatherhead, P.J. 2001c. An experimental test of the link between foraging, habitat selection and thermoregulation in black rat snakes (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta). J. Anim. Ecol. 70: 1006-1013. doi:10.1046/j.0021-8790.2001.00554.x.
10. Blouin-Demers, G., and Weatherhead, P.J. 2002. Implications of spatial and movement patterns for gene flow in black rat snakes (Elaphe obsoleta). Can. J. Zool. 80: 1162-1172.
11. Blouin-Demers, G., Weatherhead, P.J., Shilton, C.M., Parent, C.E., and Brown, G.P. 2000. Use of inhalant anesthetics in three snake species. Contemp. Herpetol. [serial online], 2000(4). Available from http://www.cnah.org/CH/ch/ 2000/4/index.htm.
12. Blouin-Demers, G., Prior, K.A., and Weatherhead, P.J. 2002. Comparative demography of black rat snakes (Elaphe obsoleta) in Ontario and Maryland. J. Zool. 256: 1-10.
13. Brown, G.P., and Shine, R. 2004. Effects of reproduction on the antipredator tactics of snakes (Tropidonophis mairii, Colubridae). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 56: 257-262.
14. Burbrink, F.T. 2001. Systematics of the eastern ratsnake complex (Elaphe obsoleta). Herpetol. Monogr. 15: 1-53. doi:10.2307/ 1467037.
15. Burbrink, F.T., Lawson, R., and Slowinski, J.B. 2000. Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of the polytypic North American rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta): a critique of the subspecies concept. Evolution, 54: 2107-2118. doi:10.1554/0014-3820(2000)054[2107:MDPOTP]2.0.CO;2.
16. Burkey, T.V. 1993. Edge effects in seed and egg predation at two neotropical rainforest sites. Biol. Conserv. 66: 139-143.
17. Carfagno, G.L.F., Heske, E.J., and Weatherhead, P.J. 2006. Does mammalian prey abundance explain forest-edge use by snakes? Ecoscience, 13: 293-297.
18. Chalfoun, A.D., Ratnaswany, M.J., and Thompson, F.R., III. 2002a. Songbird nest predators in forest-pasture edge and forest interior in a fragmented landscape. Ecol. Appl. 12: 858-867.
19. Chalfoun, A.D., Thompson, F.R., III, and Ratnaswany, M.J. 2002b. Nest predators and fragmentation: a review and meta-analysis. Conserv. Biol. 16: 306-318. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.00308. x.
20. Changnon, S.A., Angel, J.R., Kunkel, K.E., and Lehmann, C.M.B. 2004. Climate atlas of Illinois. Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Ill.
21. Charland, M.B., and Gregory, P.T. 1995. Movements and habitat use in gravid and nongravid female garter snakes (Colubridae: Thamnophis). J. Zool. (Lond.) 236: 543-561.
22. Conant, R., and Collins, J.T. 1998. A field guide to reptiles and amphibians of eastern and central North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York.
23. Donovan, T.M., Lamberson, R.H., Kimber, A., Thompson, F.R., III, and Faaborg, J. 1995. Modeling the effects of habitat fragmentation on source and sink demography of Neotropical migrant birds. Conserv. Biol. 9: 1396-1407. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1995.09061396.x.
24. Durner, G.M., and Gates, J.E. 1993. Spatial ecology of black rat snakes on Remington Farms, Maryland. J. Wildl. Manag. 57: 812-826.
25. Fitch, H.S. 1963a. Natural history of the black rat snake (Elaphe o. obsoleta) in Kansas. Copeia, 1963: 649-658. doi:10.2307/1440967.
26. Fitch, H.S. 1963b. Natural history of the racer, Coluber constrictor. Univ. Kans. Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist. 15: 351-468.
27. Fitch, H.S. 1999. A Kansas snake community: composition and changes over 50 years. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Fla.
28. Ford, N.B., and Burghardt, G.M. 1993. Perceptual mechanisms and the behavioral ecology of snakes. In Snakes: ecology and behavior. Edited by R.A. Seigel and J.T. Collins. McGraw-Hill, New York. pp. 117-164.
29. Gibbs, H.L., Coreyl, S.J., Blouin-Demers, G., Prior, K.A., and Weatherhead, P.J. 2006. Hybridization between mtDNA-defmed phylogeographic lineages of black ratsnakes (Pantherophis sp.). Mol. Ecol. 15: 3755-3767.
30. Grant, B.W. 1990. Trade-offs in activity time and physiological performance for thermoregulating desert lizards, Sceloporus merriami. Ecology, 71: 2323-2333. doi:10.2307/1938643.
31. Gvozdik, L. 2002. To heat or to save time? Thermoregulation in the lizard Zootoca vivipara (Squamata: Lacertidae) in different thermal enviornments along an altitudinal gradient. Can. J. Zool. 80: 479-492.
32. Harrison, S., and Bruna, E. 1999. Habitat fragmentation and largescale conservation: what do we know for sure? Ecography, 22: 225-232. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.1999.tb00496.x.
33. Heard, G.W., Black, D., and Robertson, P. 2004. Habitat use by the inland carpet python (Morelia spilota metcalfei: Pythonidae): seasonal relationships with habitat structure and prey distribution in a rural landscape. Austral Ecol. 29: 446-460.
34. Heatwole, H., and Johnson, C.R. 1979. Thermoregulation in the red-bellied blacksnake, Pseudechis porphyriacus (Elapidae). Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 63: 83-101.
35. Hertz, P.E. 1992. Temperature regulation in Puerto Rican Anolis lizards: a field test using null hypotheses. Ecology, 73: 1405-1417. doi:10.2307/1940686.
36. Hertz, P.E., and Huey, R.B. 1981. Compensation for altitudinal changes in the thermal environment by some Anolis lizards on Hispaniola. Ecology, 62: 515-521. doi:10.2307/1937714.
37. Heske, E.J., Robinson, S.K., and Brawn, J.D. 2001. Nest predation and neotropical migrant songbirds: piecing together the fragments. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 29: 52-61.
38. Houston, D., and Shine, R. 1993. Sexual dimorphism and niche divergence: feeding habits of the Arafura filesnake. J. Anim. Ecol. 62: 737-748.
39. Huey, R.B., and Kingsolver, J.G. 1993. Evolution of resistance to high temperature in ectotherms. Am. Nat. 142: S21-S46. doi:10.1086/285521.
40. Huey, R.B., and Slatkin, M. 1976. Cost and benefits of lizard thermoregulation. Q. Rev. Biol. 51: 363-384. doi:10.1086/409470.
41. Kearney, M. 2002. Hot rocks and much-too-hot rocks: seasonal patterns of retreat-site selection by a nocturnal ectotherm. J. Therm. Biol. 27: 205-218.
42. Keller, W.L., and Heske, E.J. 2000. Habitat use by three species of snakes at the Middle Fork Fish and Wildlife Area, Illinois. J. Herpetol. 34: 558-564. doi:10.2307/1565271.
43. King, D.I., Degraaf, R.M., and Griffin, C.R. 1998. Edge-related nest predation in clearcut and groupcut stands. Conserv. Biol. 12: 1412-1415. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1998.97199.x.
44. Klimstra, W.D. 1959. Foods of the racer, Coluber constrictor, in southern Illinois. Copeia, 1959: 210-214. doi:10.2307/1440390.
45. Larivière, S. 2003. Edge effects, predator movements, and the travel-lane paradox. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 31: 315-320.
46. Lillywhite, H.B., and Henderson, R.W. 1993. Behavioral and functional ecology of arboreal snakes. In Snakes: ecology and behavior. Edited by R.A. Seigel and J.T. Collins. McGraw-Hill, New York. pp. 1-48.
47. Marini, M.A., Robinson, S.K., and Heske, E.J. 1995. Edge effects on nest predation in the Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois. Biol. Conserv. 74: 203-213.doi:10.1016/0006-3207(95)00032-Y.
48. Martin, T.E. 1988. Habitat and area effects on forest bird assemblages: is nest predation an influence? Ecology, 69: 74-84. doi:10.2307/1943162.
49. Martin, T.E. 1993. Nest predation and nest sites. Bioscience, 43: 523-532. doi:10.2307/1311947.
50. McCarigal, K., Cushman, S., and Stafford, S. 2000. Multivariate statistics for wildlife and ecology research. Springer-Verlag, New York.
51. Meffe, G.K., and Carroll, C.R. 1997. Principles of conservation biology. 2nd ed. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, Mass.
52. Morrison, S.A., and Bolger, D.T. 2002. Variation in a sparrow's reproductive success with rainfall: food and predator-mediated processes. Oecologia, 133: 315-324. doi:10.1007/s00442-002-1040-3.
53. Plummer, M.V., and Congdon, J.D. 1994. Radiotelemetric study of activity and movements of racers (Coluber constrictor) associated with a Carolina bay in South Carolina. Copeia, 1994: 20-26. doi:10.2307/1446666.
54. Reinert, H.K. 1984. Habitat separation between sympatric snake populations. Ecology, 65: 478-486. doi:10.2307/1941410.
55. Reinert, H.K. 1993. Habitat selection in snakes. In Snakes: ecology and behavior. Edited by R.A. Seigel and J.T. Collins. McGraw-Hill, New York. pp. 201-240.
56. Ricklefs, R.E. 1969. An analysis of nesting mortality in birds. Smithson. Contrib. Zool. 9: 1-48.
57. Robinson, S.K., and Robinson, W.D. 2001. Avian nesting success in a selectively harvested north temperate deciduous forest. Conserv. Biol. 15: 1763-1771. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.00226.x.
58. Robinson, S.K., Thompson, P.R., Donovan, T.M., Whitehead, D.R., and Faaborg, J. 1995. Regional forest fragmentation and the nesting success of migratory birds. Science (Washington, D.C.), 267: 1987-1990.
59. Sartorius, S.S., do Amaral, J.P.S., Durtsche, R.D., Deen, C.M., and Lutterschmidt, W.I. 2002. Thermoregulatory accuracy, precision, and effectiveness in two sand-dwelling lizards under mild environmental conditions. Can. J. Zool. 80: 1966-1976. doi:10.1139/z02-191.
60. Schoener, T.W. 1977. Competition and the niche. In Biology of the Reptilia. Edited by C. Gans and D.W. Tinkle. Academic Press, New York. Vol. 7. pp. 35-136.
61. Seigel, R.A., Huggins, M.M., and Ford, N.B. 1987. Reduction in locomotor ability as a cost of reproduction in gravid snakes. Oecologia, 73: 481-485. doi:10.1007/BF00379404.
62. Sexton, O.J., and Hunt, S.R. 1980. Temperature relationships and movements of snakes (Elaphe obsoleta, Coluber constrictor) in a cave hibernaculum. Herpetologica, 36: 20-26.
63. Shine, R., and Fitzgerald, M. 1996. Large snakes in a mosaic rural landscape: the ecology of carpet pythons Morelia spilota (Serpentes: Pythonidae) in coastal Eastern Australia. Biol. Conserv. 76: 113-122. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(95)00108-5.
64. Stephens, S.E., Koons, D.N., Rotella, J.J., and Willey, D.W. 2003. Effects of habitat fragmentation on avian nesting success: a review of the evidence at multiple spatial scales. Biol. Conserv. 115: 101-110.
65. Stickel, L.F., Stickel, W.H., and Schmid, F.C. 1980. Ecology of a Maryland population of black rat snakes (Elaphe o. obsoleta). Am. Midl. Nat. 103: 1-14. doi:10.2307/2425033.
66. Thompson, F.R., III, and Burhans, D.E. 2003. Predation of songbird nests differs by predator and between field and forest habitats. J. Wildl. Manag. 67: 408-416.
67. Thompson, F.R., III, Dijak, W., and Burhans, D.E. 1999. Video identification of predators at songbird nests in old fields. Auk, 116: 259-264.
68. Tracy, C.R., and Christian, K.A. 1986. Ecological relations among space, time, and thermal niche axes. Ecology, 67: 609-615. doi:10.2307/1937684.
69. Turner, F.B. 1977. The dynamics of populations of squamates, crocodilians, and rhynchocephalians. In Biology of the Reptilia. Edited by C. Gans and D.W. Tinkle. Academic Press, New York. Vol. 7. pp. 157-264.
70. Weatherhead, P.J., and Blouin-Demers, G. 2004. Understanding avian nest predation: why ornithologists should study snakes. J. Avian Biol. 35: 185-190. doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03336.x.
71. Weatherhead, P.J., and Charland, M.B. 1985. Habitat selection in an Ontario population of the snake, Elaphe obsoleta. J. Herpetol. 19: 12-19. doi:10.2307/1564415.
72. Weatherhead, P.J., and Hoysak, D.J. 1989. Spatial and activity patterns of black rat snakes (Elaphe obsoleta) from radiotelemetry and recapture data. Can. J. Zool. 67: 463-468.
73. Weatherhead, P.J., and Robertson, I.C. 1990. Homing to food by black rat snakes (Elaphe obsoleta). Copeia, 1990: 1164-1165. doi:10.2307/1446506.
74. Weatherhead, P.J., Blouin-Demers, G., and Cavey, K.M. 2003. Seasonal and prey-size dietary patterns of black ratsnakes (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta). Am. Midl. Nat. 150: 275-281. doi:10.1674/0003-0031(2003)150[0275:SAPDPO] 2.0.CO;2.
75. Webb, J.K., and Shine, R. 1998. Thermoregulation by a nocturnal elapid snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides) in southeastern Australia. Physiol. Zool. 71: 680-692.
76. Wilson, E.O. 2001. The diversity of life. Penguin, London.
77. Yahner, R.H., and Scott, D.P. 1988. Effects of forest fragmentation on depredation of artificial nests. J. Wildl. Manag. 52: 158-161.