Keywords

snakes, habitat use, seasonal activity, drift fencing, Kennedy Space Center

Abstract

An intensive, replicated monthly sampling of snake communities inhabiting four habitat types was conducted at John F. Kennedy Space Center, Brevard County, Florida from November 2002 through October 2003. Thirteen species (580 individuals plus 74 recaptures) plus one hybrid were captured. The three most commonly captured species, Coluber constrictor, Thamnophis sirtalis, and Thamnophis sauritus, combined made up 85% of the sample. These three species were active during every month of the year, but showed modal activity patterns typical of Temperate Zone snakes. Monthly snake captures were correlated with monthly captures of potential prey species and with mean monthly temperature. Species richness in the four habitat types varied from nine to 12. Drift fences in ruderal habitats had the highest species richness, while fences in swales captured the greatest number of individuals. The most dissimilar habitat pair was scrub and swale, while the most similar pair was ruderal and hammock. Box traps proved more effective for targeting the largest snake species, while funnel and box traps were equally effective for targeting other species.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2004

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Stout, I. Jack

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Biology

Degree Program

Biology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0000237

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0000237

Language

English

Release Date

January 2006

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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