Resource selection by the eastern massasauga rattlesnake on managed land in southwestern Michigan

Bailey, Robyn L.; Campa, Henry; Bissell, Kristin M.; Harrison, Tara M.

doi:10.1002/jwmg.266

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Breeding occurs in these areas and adjacent open areas such as meadows, which may be slightly higher in elevation. Isolated drought and flooding events have been implicated in reduced adult and juvenile survival as well as reproductive failure, possibly contributing to local population declines (Seigel, ; Seigel et al ., ; Johnson et al ., ; King et al ., ; Moore & Gillingham, ; Smith, ; Bailey et al ., ). Extreme water table perturbations due to drought or flooding during winter may negatively affect body condition in the following active season or cause early emergence or direct mortality within hibernacula (Prior & Shilton, ; Harvey & Weatherhead, ; Smith, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Demographic consequences of climate change and land cover help explain a history of extirpations and range contraction in a declining snake species

Pomara

LeDee

Martin

et al. 2014

Global Change Biology

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Developing conservation strategies for threatened species increasingly requires understanding vulnerabilities to climate change, in terms of both demographic sensitivities to climatic and other environmental factors, and exposure to variability in those factors over time and space. We conducted a range-wide, spatially explicit climate change vulnerability assessment for Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus), a declining endemic species in a region showing strong environmental change. Using active season and winter adult survival estimates derived from 17 data sets throughout the species' range, we identified demographic sensitivities to winter drought, maximum precipitation during the summer, and the proportion of the surrounding landscape dominated by agricultural and urban land cover. Each of these factors was negatively associated with active season adult survival rates in binomial generalized linear models. We then used these relationships to back-cast adult survival with dynamic climate variables from 1950 to 2008 using spatially explicit demographic models. Demographic models for 189 population locations predicted known extant and extirpated populations well (AUC = 0.75), and models based on climate and land cover variables were superior to models incorporating either of those effects independently. These results suggest that increasing frequencies and severities of extreme events, including drought and flooding, have been important drivers of the long-term spatiotemporal variation in a demographic rate. We provide evidence that this variation reflects nonadaptive sensitivity to climatic stressors, which are contributing to long-term demographic decline and range contraction for a species of high-conservation concern. Range-wide demographic modeling facilitated an understanding of spatial shifts in climatic suitability and exposure, allowing the identification of important climate refugia for a dispersal-limited species. Climate change vulnerability assessment provides a framework for linking demographic and distributional dynamics to environmental change, and can thereby provide unique information for conservation planning and management.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Demographic consequences of climate change and land cover help explain a history of extirpations and range contraction in a declining snake species

Pomara

LeDee

Martin

et al. 2014

Global Change Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…We selected study sites to include a range of massasauga habitat quality for our detection surveys. We coarsely classified habitat quality into low, medium, and high based on proportion of suitable and unsuitable vegetation types within each 20‐ha site (see Bissell , Bailey ), as portrayed by the 2011 National Land Cover Database (MRLCC ; Table ). We validated land cover types represented in the database visually in the field upon our initial site visits.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We surgically implanted massasaugas with 1 of 3 radiotransmitters of varying mass, depending on body mass (models R1515, 7 g, and R1680, 3.1 g, Advanced Telemetry Systems, Inc., Isanti, MN, USA; model SB‐2, 5.3 g, Holohil Systems Ltd., ON, Canada) following Bailey () and Bailey et al (). The combined mass of the implanted radiotransmitter and PIT tag did not exceed 5% of body mass (Lentini et al ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survey methodology for detecting eastern massasauga rattlesnakes in southern Michigan

2019

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus catenatus) as threatened in 2016 under the 1973 Endangered Species Act. We tested a visualencounter survey method during 2016 to aid researchers and managers in successfully detecting massasaugas in occupied habitat in southern Michigan, USA. We conducted 54 surveys (paired, independent searchers) in 2-ha areas occupied by telemetered massasaugas. Our detection process parameters included environmental conditions (air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, surface temperature, precipitation) and searcher characteristics (e.g., experience, time spent searching). We detected massasaugas on 11 of 54 surveys. Detection probability from the null model was 0.31; however, we found that time spent searching and minimum air temperature improved detection probability. Detection probability approached 1.00 as time searched by an individual exceeded 90 minutes and approached 0.80 on cooler mornings (12.8°C).Our findings provide survey protocol guidance to increase massasauga detections during visual encounter surveys, which offer useful information to help guide habitat management decisions.

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“…Because of their physiology, most temperate squamates are dependent on early successional or otherwise open habitat for nearly all aspects of their life history (Peterson et al ). For instance, the North American eastern massasauga rattlesnake ( Sistrurus catenatus ) depends on open wetland habitats for thermoregulation, feeding, mating, gestation, and parturition, and in some populations, even overwintering (Reinert and Kodrich , Moore and Gillingham , Bailey et al ). Consequently, throughout its Great Lakes‐centered distribution, a major threat to the eastern massasauga is habitat loss due to encroachment of woody vegetation and invasive species (Dovciak et al , Steen et al , U.S.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With few exceptions (Bailey et al , Jones et al ), demographic estimates for the eastern massasauga are qualitative in nature (Faust et al ) or based on quantitative data from populations near the northern (Middleton and Chu , Jones et al ), southern (Dreslik , Aldridge et al , Dreslik et al ), or eastern (Johnson et al ) range limits for the species. Although these studies yield valuable information, eastern massasaugas at these sites may exhibit climate‐dependent life‐history extremes (Hileman et al ), which highlights the need for equally detailed information from more centrally located populations where the largest number of eastern massasauga populations may still persist (Szymanski et al ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Eastern massasauga demography and extinction risk under prescribed‐fire scenarios

2018

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The use of poorly estimated or surrogate population parameter estimates to assess population viability may result in misleading predictions. Consequently, a critical first step to understanding population health and the effects of land management practices on threatened species is estimation of site‐specific demographic parameters. A major threat to the eastern massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) is habitat loss due to encroachment of woody vegetation and invasive species. Current land management practices require periodic burning or mowing to maintain habitat suitability. Although these methods improve habitat quality, they may also increase the risk of depredation due to reduced ground cover if burns are too extensive or cause mortality if conducted when snakes are active. We fitted contemporary capture–recapture and matrix models to an 8‐year dataset to estimate population parameters for an eastern massasauga population near the range center of the species, where the largest number of eastern massasauga populations may still persist. From 2009 to 2016, we captured 826 eastern massasaugas 1,776 times. In general, annual survival increased with increasing age (age 0 = 0.38, age 1 = 0.65, age 2 = 0.67, age ≥3 females = 0.71, age ≥3 males = 0.66). Abundance estimates ranged from 84 to 140 adults and annual reproductive frequency was 0.44 (95% CI = 0.29–0.59). We simulated increased mortality due to prescribed burns during spring, fall, and late fall for 50 and 100 years. The baseline model, which incorporated current prescribed‐fire practices, indicated a stable population with only a 0.2–0.6% probability of extinction over 100 years, suggesting that management practices at this site are sustainable if they remain unchanged. Simulations of conservative increases in mortality due to fire changed the probability of extinction little over 50 years (≤0.7%) but increased probability of extinction up to 24.5% over 100 years in the most pessimistic prescribed‐burn scenario. These prescribed‐burn simulations may be comparable to burn regimes used at other eastern massasauga sites. The population parameters estimated here provide information needed for assessing range‐wide population viability and investigating geographic variation in eastern massasauga demography. © 2018 The Wildlife Society.

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Resource selection by the eastern massasauga rattlesnake on managed land in southwestern Michigan

Cited by 16 publications

References 26 publications

Demographic consequences of climate change and land cover help explain a history of extirpations and range contraction in a declining snake species

Demographic consequences of climate change and land cover help explain a history of extirpations and range contraction in a declining snake species

Survey methodology for detecting eastern massasauga rattlesnakes in southern Michigan

Eastern massasauga demography and extinction risk under prescribed‐fire scenarios

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