Revista de Biología Tropical ISSN Impreso: 0034-7744 ISSN electrónico: 2215-2075

OAI: https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/oai
Are tropical reptiles really declining? A six-year survey of snakes in a tropical coastal rainforest: role of prey and environment
PDF
DIGITAL APPENDIX
DIGITAL APPENDIX
HTML

Keywords

snake demography
climate change
Drake Bay
reptile population
trópico
demografía de serpientes
cambio climático
Bahía Drake
población de reptiles
trópico

How to Cite

Barquero González, J. P., Stice, T. L., Gómez, G., & Monge-Nájera, J. (2020). Are tropical reptiles really declining? A six-year survey of snakes in a tropical coastal rainforest: role of prey and environment. Revista De Biología Tropical, 68(1), 336–343. https://doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v68i1.38555

Abstract

Introduction: Even though snake declines seem to be a reality in many parts of the world, some reports are based on anecdotal evidence and there is a need of prolonged and intensive studies, especially in the tropics, for corroboration. Objective: To investigate if snake populations in Drake Bay are decreasing, and if there is a relationship with prey, time, temperature, rain and moonlight. Methods: We counted snakes seen per hour when walking along a single trail in the coastal forest of Drake Bay, Costa Rica. We walked the trail at night for a total of 842 nights (over 4 000 hours of observations), from 2012 through 2017 and recorded all the individual snakes we could see with head flashlights. We used ANOVA tests to check correlations among counts per hour with moonlight and rain; and graphic analysis for associations with diet, temperature, month and year. Results: We recorded 25 species (five families); which feed mostly on terrestrial vertebrates. Counts per hour have fallen over the years, especially for species that prey on amphibians and reptiles; Mastigodryas melanolomus has remained in similar numbers; and Siphlophis compressus has not been seen since May 2016. Temperature is relatively constant along the year in Drake, but month strongly affected the counts, which increased from August to September. Most species were seen more often in rainy nights (0.11 per hour versus only 0.03 per hour in nights without rain, ANOVA P < 0.05); we saw less Leptodeira septentrionalis on bright nights (0.12 per hour, versus 0.21 per hour in dark nights; ANOVA, P = 0.01), but all other species were unaffected by moonlight (ANOVA, P > 0.05). Conclusion: Night field counts of snakes in Drake Bay, Costa Rica, are not strongly affected by light or temperature, but are lower when there is no rain and show a strong decline from 2012 through 2017, particularly for species that feed on amphibians and reptiles. We have no reason to believe that the decline is an erroneous interpretation or that the snakes moved elsewhere, the decline of snakes in Drake seems to be real and needs attention from the conservation authorities.

https://doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v68i1.38555
PDF
DIGITAL APPENDIX
DIGITAL APPENDIX
HTML

References

Bernarde, P.S., & Abe, A.S. (2006). A snake community at Espigão do Oeste, Rondônia, southwestern Amazon, Brazil. South American Journal of Herpetology, 1(2),102-113. DOI: 10.2994/1808-9798(2006)1[102:ASCAED]2.0.CO;2

Böhm, M., Collen, B., Baillie, J.E., Bowles, P., Chanson, J., Cox, N., & Rhodin. A.G. (2013). The conservation status of the world’s reptiles. Biological Conservation, 157, 372-385. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2012.07.015

Bullock, D.J. (1986). The ecology and conservation of reptiles on Round Island and Gunner's Quion, Mauritius. Biological Conservation, 37(2), 135-156. DOI: 10.1016/0006-3207(86)90088-1

Campbell, S.R., Mackessy, S.P., & Clarke, J.A. (2008). Microhabitat use by brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis): effects of moonlight and prey. Journal of Herpetology, 42(2), 246-250. DOI: 10.1655/07-054.1

Clarke, J.A., Chopko, J.T., & Mackessy, S.P. (1996). The effect of moonlight on activity patterns of adult and juvenile prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis viridis). Journal of Herpetology, 30(2), 192-197. DOI: 10.2307/1565509

Conant, R., & Collins, J.T. (1998). Reptiles and Amphibians of North America (4th Ed.). New York, USA: Houghton Mifflin.

Connolly, B.M., & Orrock, J.L. (2018). Habitat‐specific capture timing of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) suggests that predators structure temporal activity of prey. Ethology, 124(2),105-112. DOI: 10.1111/eth.12708

Daltry, J.C., Ross, T., Thorpe, R.S., & Wüster, W. (1998). Evidence that humidity influences snake activity patterns: a field study of the Malayan pit viper Calloselasma rhodostoma. Ecography, 21(1), 25-34. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0587.1998.tb00391.x

Duellman, W.E. (1958). A monographic study of the colubrid snake genus Leptodeira. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 114, article 1.

Gaston, K.J. (1994). What is rarity? In K.J. Gaston (Ed.). Rarity (pp. 1-21). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-011-0701-3_1

Gibbons, J.W., Scott, D.E., Ryan, T.J., Buhlmann, K.A., Tuberville, T.D., Metts, B.S., ... Winne, C.T. (2000). The Global Decline of Reptiles, Déjà Vu Amphibians. BioScience, 50(8), 653-666. DOI: 10.2307/1445695

Greene, H.W. (2000). Snakes: the evolution of mystery in nature. Los Angeles, CA, USA.: University of California Press.

Hallam, C.O., Wheaton, K., & Fischer R.A. (1998). Species Profile: Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon corals couperi) on Military Installations in the Southeastern United States (Technical Report, No. WES-TR-SERDP-98-2) Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station Vicksburg, MS, USA. DOI: 10.21236/ADA342329

Henderson, R.W., Dixon, J.R., & Soini, P. (1978). On the seasonal incidence of tropical snakes. Wisconsin, USA: Milwaukee Public Museum.

Henderson, R.W., & Hoevers, L.G. (1977). The seasonal incidence of snakes at a locality in northern Belize. Copeia, 1977, 349-355. DOI: 10.2307/1443914

Hileman, E.T., Allender, M.C., Bradke, D.R, Faust, L.J., Moore, J.A., Ravesi, M.J., & Tetzlaff, S.J. (2018). Estimation of Ophidiomyces prevalence to evaluate snake fungal disease risk. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 82(1), 173-181. DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21345

Kery, M. (2002). Inferring the absence of a species: a case study of snakes. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 66(2), 330-338. DOI: 10.2307/3803165

Krysko, K.L. (2001). Ecology, conservation, and morphological and molecular systematics of the kingsnake, Lampropeltis getula (Serpentes: Colubridae) (Ph.D Dissertation). University of Florida, Florida, USA.

Lillywhite, H.B., & Brischoux, F. (2012). Is it better in the moonlight? Nocturnal activity of insular cottonmouth snakes increases with lunar light levels. Journal of Zoology, 286(3), 194-199. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00866.x

Luiselli, L., & Akani, G.C. (2002). Is thermoregulation really unimportant for tropical reptiles? Comparative study of four sympatric snake species from Africa. Acta Oecologica, 23(2), 59-68. DOI: 10.1016/S1146-609X(02)01134-7

Lukoschek, V. (2018). Population declines, genetic bottlenecks and potential hybridization in sea snakes on Australia's Timor Sea reefs. Biological Conservation, 225, 66-79. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2018.06.018

Lukoschek, V., Beger, M., Ceccarelli, D., Richards, Z., & Pratchett, M. (2013). Enigmatic declines of Australia’s sea snakes from a biodiversity hotspot. Biological Conservation, 166, 191-202. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2013.07.004

Madsen, T., Ujvari, B., Shine, R., & Olsson, M. (2006). Rain, rats and pythons: Climate‐driven population dynamics of predators and prey in tropical Australia. Austral Ecology, 31(1), 30-37. DOI: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.2006.01540.x

Martins, M. (1994). História natural e ecologia de uma taxocenose de serpentes de mata na região de Manaus, Amazônia Central, Brasil. Campinas, SP (Ph.D Dissertation). Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brasil.

Moore, J.L., Balmford, A., Brooks, T., Burgess, N.D., Hansen, L.A., Rahbek, C., & Williams, P.H. (2003). Performance of sub‐Saharan vertebrates as indicator groups for identifying priority areas for conservation. Conservation Biology, 17(1), 207-218. DOI: 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.01126.x

Morrison, S.A., & Bolger, D.T. (2002). Variation in a sparrow's reproductive success with rainfall: food and predator-mediated processes. Oecologia, 133(3), 315-324. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-002-1040-3

Mount, R.H. (1975). The Reptiles and Amphibians of Alabama. Auburn (AL), USA: Auburn University, Alabama Agricultural Experimental Station.

Oliveira, M.E., & Martins, M. (2001). When and where to find a pitviper: activity patterns and habitat use of the lancehead, Bothrops atrox, in central Amazonia, Brazil. Herpetological Natural History, 8(2), 101-110.

Reading, C.J., Luiselli, L.M., Akani, G.C., Bonnet, X., Amori, G., Ballouard, J.M., ... Rugiero, L. (2010). Are snake populations in widespread decline? Biology Letters, 6(6), 777-780. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2010.0373

Rudolph, D.C., & Burgdorf, S.J. (1997). Timber rattlesnakes and Louisiana pine snakes of the west Gulf Coastal Plain: hypotheses of decline. Texas Journal of Science, 49(3), 111-122.

Rugiero, L., Milana G., Petrozzi, F., Capula, M., & Luiselli, L. (2013). Climate-change-related shifts in annual phenology of a temperate snake during the last 20 years. Acta Oecologica, 51, 42-48. DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2013.05.005

Salter, C., Hobbs, J., Wheeler, J., Kostbade, J., & Trenton, J. (2005). Essentials of World Regional Geography (2nd Ed.). New York, USA: Harcourt Brace.

Savage, J.M. (2002). The amphibians and reptiles of Costa Rica: a herpetofauna between two continents, between two seas. Chicago, Illinois, USA: University of Chicago.

Scott, N.J.Jr., & Seigel, R.A. (1992). The management of amphibians and reptile populations: Specific priorities and methodological and theoretical constraints. In D.R. McCullough, & R.H. Barrett (Eds.), Wildlife 2001: Populations (pp. 343-368). London, England: Elsevier Applied Science. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-011-2868-1_29

Seigel, R.A., Collins, J.T., & Novak, S.S. (1987). Snakes: ecology and evolutionary biology. New York, USA: MacMillan Publishing Company. DOI: 10.2307/1445695

Sewell, D., Guillera-Arroita, G., Griffiths, R.A., & Beebee, T.J. (2012). When is a species declining? Optimizing survey effort to detect population changes in reptiles. PloS one, 7(8), e43387. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043387

Shetty, S., & Shine, R. (2002). Philopatry and homing behavior of sea snakes (Laticauda colubrina) from two adjacent islands in Fiji. Conservation Biology, 16(5), 1422-1426. DOI: 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.00515.x

Shine, R., & Madsen, T. (1996). Is thermoregulation unimportant for most reptiles? An example using water pythons (Liasis fuscus) in tropical Australia. Physiological Zoology, 69(2), 252-269. DOI: 10.1086/physzool.69.2.30164182

Solórzano, A. (2004). Serpientes de Costa Rica: distribución, taxonomía e historia natural. San José, Costa Rica: Editorial INBio.

Terborgh, J., & Winter, B. (1980). Some causes of extinction. Conservation Biology, 2, 119-133.

Tuberville, T.D., Bodie, J.R., Jensen, J.B., LaClaire, L., & Gibbons, J.W. (2000). Apparent decline of the southern hog-nosed snake, Heterodon simus. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society, 116(1), 19-40.

Urban, M.C. (2015). Accelerating extinction risk from climate change. Science, 348(6234), 571-573. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa4984

Webb, J.K., & Shine, R. (1998). Ecological characteristics of a threatened snake species, Hoplocephalus bungaroides (Serpentes, Elapidae). Animal Conservation, 1(3), 185-193. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-1795.1998.tb00028.x

Winne, C.T., Wilson, J.D., Todd, B.D., Andrews, K.M., & Gibbons, J.W. (2007). Enigmatic decline of a protected population of Eastern Kingsnakes, Lampropeltis getula, in South Carolina. Copeia, 2007(3), 507-519. DOI: 10.1643/0045-8511(2007)2007[507:EDOAPP]2.0.CO;2

Zamora-Camacho, F.J., Moreno-Rueda, G., & Pleguezuelos, J.M. (2010). Long-and short-term impact of temperature on snake detection in the wild: further evidence from the snake Hemorrhois hippocrepis. Acta Herpetológica, 5(2), 143-150.

Comments

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2020 José Pablo Barquero González

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.