Environmental, behavioral, and habitat variables influencing body temperature in radio-tagged bullsnakes, Pituophis catenifer sayi

Kapfer, Joshua M.; Pauers, Michael J.; Reineke, David M.; Coggins, James R.; Hay, Robert

doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2007.11.005

Cited by 12 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…We also believe that the locations of preferred habitat and the locations of preferred thermoregulatory opportunities (as with locations of winter hibernacula and refuges from predators) are correlated. Bullsnake body temperature is significantly affected by selected habitat type, which supports this hypothesis (Kapfer et al, 2008c). In addition, we found that an individual's size (length and weight, correlated with gender) was not included in the best performing models that we tested, and does not seem to be a significant predictor of home range at our site.…”

Section: Considerations To Physiological Demands and Body Sizesupporting

confidence: 79%

Modeling the relationship between habitat preferences and home‐range size: a case study on a large mobile colubrid snake from North America

Kapfer

Pekar²,

Reineke

et al. 2010

Journal of Zoology

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Effective wildlife conservation plans should consider both the habitat needs and spatial requirements of the species in question. Studies that focus on the correlation between the habitat preferences and movement patterns of wildlife, particularly snakes, are uncommon. We attempted to determine how habitat preferences or quality influenced movement patterns of snakes. To answer this question, we created a case model that incorporated habitat preference or avoidance information rigorously obtained for bullsnakes Pituophis catenifer sayi from 2003 to 2005 at a site in the upper Midwestern US and compared it with minimum convex polygon estimates of home-range size. We employed geographical information systems to model the amount of preferred (open bluff faces) and avoided (agricultural fields and closed canopy forests) habitats within each estimated home range and compared them via multiple linear regression. We also tested the influence of gender, length and weight on home-range size. Our results indicate that home-range size increased primarily as a function of the amount of avoided habitat. This supports the hypothesis that habitat quality has an impact on wildlife movement patterns, and the relationship between habitat needs and spatial requirements should be considered when conserving or managing species.

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Section: Considerations To Physiological Demands and Body Sizesupporting

confidence: 79%

Modeling the relationship between habitat preferences and home‐range size: a case study on a large mobile colubrid snake from North America

Kapfer

Pekar²,

Reineke

et al. 2010

Journal of Zoology

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“…Ground surface temperatures have been widely used in habitat selection studies of ectotherms (Kapfer et al. , Sato et al. , Smith et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As we predicted, ground surface temperature was a better predictor of the probability of use of a location by scaled quail even though use of black globes is the standard approach used when modeling the thermal environment of animals, particularly quails (Guthery et al 2005, Carroll et al 2015a. Ground surface temperatures have been widely used in habitat selection studies of ectotherms (Kapfer et al 2008, Sato et al 2014, Smith et al 2015b, Ahnesj€ o and Forsman 2006 and have been less widely used in studies of endotherms such as ground-dwelling mammals (Sharpe and Van Horne 1999) and desert birds (Tieleman et al 2008). For northern bobwhites, a combination of ground surface temperature and black globe temperature was a better predictor of the relative probability of use than either of the temperature measurements alone (Olsen et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature influences resource use by chestnut‐bellied scaled quail

et al. 2019

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Animals use physiological and behavioral adaptations to maintain constant body temperatures when environmental temperatures are outside of their thermoneutral zone. We define the temperature suitability bounds as the range of temperatures above and below which animals avoid locations because of unfavorable thermal conditions. Temperatures outside the temperature suitability bounds may trigger behavioral responses such as movement to cooler locations. We tested the hypothesis that temperature during late April to August influences resource selection using chestnut‐bellied scaled quail (Callipepla squamata castanogastris) as our study species. We estimated temperature suitability bounds for scaled quail and tested the prediction that ground surface temperature is a better predictor of habitat space use than black globe temperature. We compared models containing ground surface temperature and woody vegetation structure variables to test the hypothesis that including woody vegetation variables improves prediction of relative probability of use. We trapped scaled quail at five different locations in southern Texas. We located quail fitted with necklace‐style transmitters three times/week during 2013–2014. We measured ground surface and black globe temperatures at locations used by scaled quail and at random locations. We estimated percent canopy cover of cacti, subshrubs, and woody plants using 20 × 50 cm Daubenmire frames at each used and random location. We also estimated height and vertical obstruction of woody vegetation. Temperature suitability bounds of scaled were 24–43°C for the ground surface and 23–39°C for black globes. Ground surface temperature was a better predictor of relative probability of use than black globe temperature. Ground surface temperature during the warmest time of day (early afternoon, 13:30–17:29) decreased with increasing vertical obstruction after accounting for the influence of other structural variables. The best model for predicting relative probability of use by scaled quail during the warmest time of day included ground surface temperature and vertical obstruction. Use of microsites where vegetation structure is conducive to cooler temperatures is an important driver of resource selection by scaled quail during the warmest time of day in southern Texas, but availability of thermal refugia appears to be limited.

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“…It would therefore be informative to examine intersexual differences in T b in March and April to further examine this hypothesis. In a similar manner, normal embryonic development is dependent on temperature (Lillywhite, 1987), and females may thermoregulate to achieve high T b to aid embryonic development during the summer gestation period (Charland, 1995;Gregory et al, 1999;Isaac and Gregory, 2004;Kapfer et al, 2008). Thermoregulatory behavior has a strong influence on the duration of gestation and fitness of offspring in viviparous squamates (Shine and Harlow, 1993;Lourdais et al, 2004); therefore, natural selection may act upon females to thermoregulate precisely while gravid (Shine and Harlow, 1993).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex, season, and time of day interact to affect body temperatures of the Giant Gartersnake

Wylie

Casazza

Halstead

et al. 2009

Journal of Thermal Biology

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Environmental, behavioral, and habitat variables influencing body temperature in radio-tagged bullsnakes, Pituophis catenifer sayi

Cited by 12 publications

References 25 publications

Modeling the relationship between habitat preferences and home‐range size: a case study on a large mobile colubrid snake from North America

Modeling the relationship between habitat preferences and home‐range size: a case study on a large mobile colubrid snake from North America

Temperature influences resource use by chestnut‐bellied scaled quail

Sex, season, and time of day interact to affect body temperatures of the Giant Gartersnake

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