Pathogenic fungi have become a global concern to wildlife populations over the last 2 decades. However, the threat of snake fungal disease (SFD; caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola) to snake populations is still largely unknown. From 2014-2016, we monitored 3 disjunct populations of the federally threated eastern massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) in Michigan, USA. We used clinical signs of SFD, quantitative TaqMan polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), repeated sampling of individuals and sites, and single-season occupancy models to estimate site-specific prevalence of Ophidiomyces. Point estimates of Ophidiomyces prevalence in 2016 were larger at the northernmost study site (0.17, 95% CI ¼ 0.04-0.50), where 17 of 34 snakes were implanted with radio-transmitters, and smaller at southern sites (0.03, 95% CI ¼ 0.00-0.19). However, Ophidiomyces prevalence was not different between snakes with transmitters and snakes without transmitters. Swabbing snakes with 1 applicator resulted in a high probability of failure in detecting Ophidiomyces DNA for individuals with clinical signs of SFD and the probability was even higher for individuals without clinical signs of SFD. Repeated sampling of individuals reduced the probability of obtaining a false-negative qPCR result by 72% for snakes with clinical signs and 12% for snakes without clinical signs when we swabbed individuals with 5 applicators. We recommend resampling individuals and sites as a sampling design for estimating fine-scale, site-specific Ophidiomyces prevalence and population-level responses to SFD. If clinical signs are used as a surrogate for SFD, we recommend researchers standardize diagnosis of clinical signs of SFD by providing technicians adequate field training and educational materials, and minimize the number of observers recording clinical signs. We discourage the use of radio-telemetry methods where SFD occurs unless sterile surgical, handling, and equipment protocols can be ensured and the benefits to the population from such activities outweigh the increased health risks to individuals. Ó 2017 The Wildlife Society.

Wildlife disease surveillance and pathogen detection are fundamental for conservation, population sustainability, and public health. Detection of pathogens in snakes is often overlooked despite their essential roles as both predators and prey within their communities. Ophidiomycosis (formerly referred to as Snake Fungal Disease, SFD), an emergent disease on the North American landscape caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola , poses a threat to snake population health and stability. We tested 657 individual snakes representing 58 species in 31 states from 56 military bases in the continental US and Puerto Rico for O . ophiodiicola . Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola DNA was detected in samples from 113 snakes for a prevalence of 17.2% (95% CI: 14.4–20.3%), representing 25 species from 19 states/territories, including the first reports of the pathogen in snakes in Idaho, Oklahoma, and Puerto Rico. Most animals were ophidiomycosis negative (n = 462), with Ophidiomyces detected by qPCR (n = 64), possible ophidiomycosis (n = 82), and apparent ophidiomycosis (n = 49) occurring less frequently. Adults had 2.38 times greater odds than juveniles of being diagnosed with ophidiomycosis. Snakes from Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all had greater odds of ophidiomycosis diagnosis, while snakes from Idaho were less likely to be diagnosed with ophidiomycosis. The results of this survey indicate that this pathogen is endemic in the eastern US and identified new sites that could represent emergence or improved detection of endemic sites. The direct mortality of snakes with ophidiomycosis is unknown from this study, but the presence of numerous individuals with clinical disease warrants further investigation and possible conservation action.

Summary1. Exotic invasive plants can alter ecosystem structure and function, yet there is a paucity of evidence regarding broadly applicable mechanisms. We hypothesized that denser growth patterns characteristic of exotic invasive plants lead to a common effect of reduction and homogenization of environmental temperatures and that these alterations compromise thermal quality of habitat for ectotherms. 2. We quantified thermal regimes within native and exotic plant-dominated habitats, including monocultures of 11 exotic species as well as stratified mixed-exotic habitats in a temperate forest landscape in the eastern US. 3. Exotic plant-dominated habitats exhibited reduced and less variable temperature compared to their native counterparts, with stratified mixed-exotic habitats exhibiting the lowest temperatures overall and exotic shrubs (six species) the lowest as a structural group. Thermal effects were extended beyond the growing season of native vegetation owing to extended leaf phenology of exotic woody species. 4. To demonstrate that these effects can alter environmental cues and adversely impact native species, we used a 4-year radiotelemetry study and laboratory thermal preference trials to relate habitat thermal quality to multiscale resource selection by a native snake, Agkistrodon contortrix. To further test the effect of vegetation structure and the efficacy of targeted management, we removed exotic foliar cover from eight 400 m 2 plots.5. Radio-tagged snakes avoided exotic vegetation at multiple spatial scales. In contrast to previous studies of A. contortrix, snakes exhibited preference for sites composed of higher native vegetation density and height. Response to exotic foliage removal was also rapid -including use of sites during gestation and parturition. 6. Together with other recent studies, our results suggest a direct, non-trophic effect that is common to a broad range of exotic invasive plant species in a variety of ecological contexts. We further offer a mitigation technique that may be implemented when large-scale control or eradication is not cost-effective or ecologically sound.

Soil pits excavated for home construction are important larval habitats for malaria vectors in certain parts of Africa. Borrow pits in diverse stages of ecological succession in a maize-farming region of Western Ethiopia were surveyed to assess the relationships between stage of succession and the structure and composition of invertebrate and plant communities, with particular attention to Anopheles gambiae s.l. and An. coustani, the primary local malaria vectors. An array of 82 borrow pits was identified in a multi-lobed drainage basin in the community of Woktola. Each pit was evaluated on its physical features and by faunal and floral surveys during August, 2011, at the height of the longer rainy season (kiremt). Anopheles gambiae s.l. and An. coustani were the sole immature anophelines collected, often coexisting with Culex spp. Sedges were the most common plants within these pits, and included Cyperus elegantulus, C. flavescens, C. erectus and C. assimilis. The legume Smithia abyssinica, Nile grass (Acroceras macrum), cutgrass (Leersia hexandra), clover (Trifolium spp.), and the edible herb Centella asiatica, were also common in these habitats. No plant species in particular was strongly and consistently predictive of the presence or absence of mosquito immatures, particularly with regard to An. coustani.

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