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Species conservation requires an understanding of the habitats on which that species depends as well as how it moves within and among those habitats. Knowledge of these spatial and temporal patterns is vital for effective management and research study design. Bubbling Ponds Hatchery in Cornville, Arizona, supports a robust population of the northern Mexican gartersnake (Thamnophis eques megalops), which was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2014. Natural resource managers are interested in understanding the ecology of gartersnakes at this site to guide hatchery operations and to serve as a model for habitat creation and restoration. My objectives were to identify habitat selection and activity patterns of northern Mexican gartersnakes at the hatchery and how frequency of monitoring affects study results. I deployed transmitters on 42 individual gartersnakes and documented macro- and microhabitat selection, daily and seasonal activity patterns, and movement distances. Habitat selection and movements were similar between males and females and varied seasonally. During the active season (March-October), snakes primarily selected wetland edge habitat with abundant cover and were more active and moved longer distances than during other parts of the year. Gestating females selected similar locations but with less dense cover. During the inactive season (November-February), snakes were less mobile and selected upland habitats, including rocky slopes with abundant vegetation. Snakes displayed diurnal patterns of activity. Estimates of daily distance traveled decreased with less-frequent monitoring; a sampling interval of once every 24 hours yielded only 53-62% of known daily distances moved during the active season. These results can help inform management activities and research design. Conservation of this species should incorporate a landscape-level approach that includes abundant wetland edge habitat with connected upland areas. Resource managers and researchers should carefully assess timing and frequency of activities in order to meet project objectives.
This paper is an attempt to do classification on the garter-snake group to help define differences between natural groups and clarify the systematic arrangements.
The common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) is a wide-ranging species that reaches the northern limit of its range in central Manitoba. Although Thamnophis sirtalis (and especially the subspecies parietalis) has been the subject of intense biological research, there are large gaps of knowledge regarding the ecology of this species in extreme northern latitudes. A recently discovered northern hibernaculum in the boreal forest region near Jenpeg, Manitoba, provided an ideal opportunity for comparing the ecology and biology of this species with geographically distant populations. The climate at Jenpeg is sub-arctic continental and consists of cold winters, and cool short summers. The area lies on the Canadian Shield. and is characterized by surface outcrops of granitic bedrock. Garter snakes were found colonizing artificial habitat features for winter habitat including dikes and rock quarries. Research on the ecology of this species was conducted from May 2005 to May 2007. Snakes emerged in late April and early May. Activity at the den lasted approximately two weeks before snakes dispersed for the summer. Mark-recapture results from 2005 indicate that this population is small (~79 individuals +_ 10.6) and exhibits a wide variation in adult sizes (350-1340 mm total length). Radio telemetry and funnel trapping have shown that summer habitat use is concentrated around wetlands. with wood frogs (Lithobates sylvatica) constituting the most common food source (56%). Many snakes dispersed over distances exceeding two kilometres, despite the apparent abundance of prey species near the den site. Analysis of colour patterns revealed substantial variation in the skin folds between the lateral scales. The majority of snakes expressed no red colouration on the lateral scales (45%) while some individuals expressed rare examples of bright red colouration (erythristism) (6%) and dark colouration (melanism) (1%). Traditional local knowledge gathered from aboriginal hunters, fishers and trappers outlined the long-term presence of garter snakes in the region, and provided local distribution data for the species. Aboriginal peoples stated that the overall population density of snakes in the region was low, and provided additional support for the findings of large variation in body sizes and colour. It is hypothesized that relative reproductive isolation and a prolonged overwintering period are factors contributing to the uniqueness of this northern population. Information from this study will benefit our understanding of garter snake biology and provide valuable information to assist the conservation efforts of wildlife and landscape managers in the region.
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants - Northern Mexican Gartersnake and Narrow-headed Gartersnake - Threatened Status (US Fish and Wildlife Service Regulation) (FWS) (2018 Edition) The Law Library presents the complete text of the Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants - Northern Mexican Gartersnake and Narrow-headed Gartersnake - Threatened Status (US Fish and Wildlife Service Regulation) (FWS) (2018 Edition). Updated as of May 29, 2018 We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine threatened species status under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended, for the northern Mexican gartersnake (Thamnophis eques megalops) and the narrow-headed gartersnake (Thamnophis rufipunctatus), native species from Arizona and New Mexico in the United States. We also finalize a rule under authority of section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), that provides measures that are necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of the northern Mexican gartersnake. Both species are listed as threatened throughout their range, which, for the northern Mexican gartersnake, also includes the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Nayarit, Hidalgo, Jalisco, San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes, Tlaxacala, Puebla, México, Veracruz, and Querétaro. The effect of this regulation will be to add these species to the lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. This book contains: - The complete text of the Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants - Northern Mexican Gartersnake and Narrow-headed Gartersnake - Threatened Status (US Fish and Wildlife Service Regulation) (FWS) (2018 Edition) - A table of contents with the page number of each section
The Garter Snakes: Evolution and Ecology is the first comprehensive review of the genus Thamnophis in nearly ninety years. The book includes color plates of all species (many never previously figured in color); extensive discussion of ecology, behavior, and captive care; and a modern key to all species - as well as species-by-species summaries of the systematics and natural history of the thirty different garter snakes now recognized. Of particular interest are the descriptions of lesser-known species in Mexico. Because interest in reptiles has grown dramatically in recent years, this comprehensive guide is designed to appeal to as wide an audience as possible - to both the professional herpetologist interested in the biology of Thamnophis and the hobbyist who wants to know more about these diverse and widespread snakes, both in the home aquarium and in the wild. This up-to-date, appealing book, written by the world's leading authorities, will be extremely useful not only to herpetologists but also to conservationists, ecologists, pet owners, and other readers generally interested in natural history.
Garter snakes are the most widespread reptile in North America. Despite occupying vastly different biogeoclimatic zones across their range, evidence suggests that the thermal preference (Tsel) of garter snakes has not significantly diverged among populations or different Thamnophis species. The reason for garter snake's wide thermal tolerance could lie in their flexible thermoregulatory behaviours and habitat use. I aimed to investigate this relationship by first identifying the Tsel of a common garter snake species (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) via a thermal gradient in the lab. I used this Tsel parameter (27.82 - 32.15 oC) as a benchmark for calculating the thermal quality of open, mixed, and forested habitats all used by the species. I measured the thermal profiles of these habitats by installing a series of operative temperature models that mimicked the thermal properties of living garter snakes and recorded environmental temperatures as living snakes experience them. Lastly, I used coverboards to survey the habitat usage of T. s. sirtalis. Of the three habitats, I found that the open habitat offered the highest thermal quality throughout the snake's active season. In contrast, I recorded the greatest number of snakes using the mixed habitat which had considerably lower thermal quality. Although the open habitat offered the greatest thermal quality on average, environmental temperatures regularly exceeded the upper limits of the animals' thermal tolerance, greatly restricting the activity window for Eastern garter snakes. Therefore, the open habitat may be less thermally attractive to T. s. sirtalis. My data show that not all habitat types used by Eastern garter snakes share the same quality and the relationship is not as simple as warm, open habitats are better. Rather, these animals may preferentially seek out areas that offer a mix of both open and closed-canopy spaces to suit their thermoregulatory needs. In conclusion, T. s. sirtalis may select more thermally stable habitats over those that present them with thermal extremes and greater constraints to their surface activity.
Occurrence of the Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis, in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains is a work by T. Paul Maslin. Garter snake is a common place name for largely innocuous, small to medium-sized serpents fitting to the genus Thamnophis in the family Colubridae. Native to North and Central America, species in the genus Thamnophis can be discovered from the subarctic plains of Canada to Costa Rica.