Episodes
Tuesday Mar 20, 2018
023 Some smooth, some grassy, all hungry
Tuesday Mar 20, 2018
Tuesday Mar 20, 2018
We kick off this episode with the announcement of our move onto Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/herphighlights . Research chat this time is all British snakes. We may not have the most extensive array of snake-life in the Britain, but that doesn't mean that there can’t be some exciting herpetofaunal research. This fortnight we are looking at a couple of papers on smooth and grass snakes. And a slight change to the Species of the Bi-week. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Reading, C, and G Jofré. 2013. “Diet Composition Changes Correlated with Body Size in the Smooth Snake, Coronella Austriaca, Inhabiting Lowland Heath in Southern England.” Amphibia-Reptilia 34 (4): 463–70.
Sewell, D, JMR Baker, and RA Griffiths. 2015. “Population Dynamics of Grass Snakes (Natrix natrix) at a Site Restored for Amphibian Reintroduction.” Herpetological Journal 25 (July): 155–61.
Species of the Bi-Week:
Kindler, C, M Chèvre, S Ursenbacher, W Böhme, A Hille, D Jablonski, M Vamberger, and U Fritz. 2017. “Hybridization Patterns in Two Contact Zones of Grass Snakes Reveal a New Central European Snake Species.” Scientific Reports 7 (1): 1–12.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Buckley, J, and J Foster. 2005. “Reintroduction Strategy for the Pool Frog Rana Lessonae in England.” English Nature Research Report.
Glaudas, X, and GJ Alexander, 2017. “Food supplementation affects the foraging ecology of a low-energy, ambush-foraging snake.” Behavioral ecology and sociobiology, 71(1), 5.
Glaudas, X, TC Kearney, and GJ Alexander. 2017. “Museum specimens bias measures of snake diet: a case study using the ambush-foraging puff adder (Bitis arietans).” Herpetologica, 73(2), 121-128.
Madsen, T. 1984. “Movements, Home Range Size and Habitat Use of Radio-Tracked Grass Snakes (Natrix Natrix) in Southern Sweden.” Copeia 1984 (3): 707–13.
Reading, CJ, and GM Jofré. 2009. “Habitat Selection and Range Size of Grass Snakes Natrix natrix in an Agricultural Landscape in Southern England.” Amphibia-Reptilia 30 (3): 379–88.
Wasko, DK, and M Sasa. 2012. “Food Resources Influence Spatial Ecology, Habitat Selection, and Foraging Behavior in an Ambush-Hunting Snake (Viperidae: Bothrops Asper): An Experimental Study.” Zoology 115 (3): 179–87.
Wisler, C, U Hofer, and R Arlettaz. 2008. “Snakes and Monocultures: Habitat Selection and Movements of Female Grass Snakes (Natrix natrix l.) in an Agricultural Landscape.” Journal of Herpetology 42 (2): 337–46.
Thomson, SA, RL Pyle, ST Ahyong, M Alonso-Zarazaga, J Ammirati, JF Araya, JS Ascher, et al. 2018. “Taxonomy Based on Science Is Necessary for Global Conservation.” PLOS Biology 16 (3): e2005075.
Other Links/Mentions:
The grass snake and the frog video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sa_G9Hhf3o
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com
Tuesday Mar 06, 2018
022 The Ebb and Flow of Water Snakes
Tuesday Mar 06, 2018
Tuesday Mar 06, 2018
Unsurprisingly, water snakes love water. But what happens when this precious resource dries out? This week we discuss the effects of drought on various American water snakes, and pay homage to a newly described Mesoamerican snake. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Rose, JP, and BD Todd. 2017. “Demographic Effects of Prolonged Drought on a Nascent Introduction of a Semi-Aquatic Snake.” Biological Invasions 19 (10): 2885–98. doi:10.1007/s10530-017-1491-4.
Vogrinc, PN, AM Durso, CT Winne, and JD Willson. 2018. “Landscape-Scale Effects of Supra-Seasonal Drought on Semi-Aquatic Snake Assemblages.” Wetlands.
Species of the Bi-Week:
Campbell, JA. 2015. “A New Species of Rhadinella (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the Pacific Versant of Oaxaca, Mexico.” Zootaxa 3918 (3): 397.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Brown, GP, and PJ Weatherhead. 1999. “Growth and Sexual Size Dimorphism in Northern Water Snakes (Nerodia Sipedon).” Copeia 1999 (3): 723.
Fernández, M., Hamilton, H., Alvarez, O., & Guo, Q. (2012). Does adding multi-scale climatic variability improve our capacity to explain niche transferability in invasive species?. Ecological modelling, 246, 60-67.
Fuller, TE, KL Pope, DT Ashton, and HH Welsh. 2011. “Linking the Distribution of an Invasive Amphibian (Rana Catesbeiana) to Habitat Conditions in a Managed River System in Northern California.” Restoration Ecology 19 (201): 204–13.
King, RB, JM Ray, and KM Stanford. 2006. “Gorging on Gobies: Beneficial Effects of Alien Prey on a Threatened Vertebrate.” Canadian Journal of Zoology 84 (1): 108–15.
Mahoney, P. J. et al. (2015) ‘Introduction effort, climate matching and species traits as predictors of global establishment success in non-native reptiles’, Diversity and Distributions, 21(1), pp. 64–74.
Mazzotti, F. J., Cherkiss, M. S., Hart, K. M., Snow, R. W., Rochford, M. R., Dorcas, M. E., & Reed, R. N. (2011). Cold-induced mortality of invasive Burmese pythons in south Florida. Biological Invasions, 13(1), 143-151.
McClelland, P, JT Reardon, F Kraus, CJ Raxworthy, and C Randrianantoandro. 2015. “Asian Toad Eradication Feasibility Report for Madagascar.” Te Anau, New Zealand.
Pounds, JA, MPL Fogden, and JH Campbell. 1999. “Biological Response to Climate Change on a Tropical Mountain.” Nature 398 (6728): 611–15.
Rose, JP, and BD Todd. 2014. “Projecting Invasion Risk of Non-Native Watersnakes (Nerodia Fasciata and Nerodia Sipedon) in the Western United States.” Edited by Benedikt R. Schmidt. PLoS ONE 9 (6): e100277.
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com