| dc.description.abstract |
In recent decades, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) has experienced
severe population declines, driven by the loss of open-canopied ecosystems across
the southeast. Many studies detail the species’ habitat requirements and press the
need to manage for those attributes, but few projects have applied that information
to local habitat restorations critical to the conservation of the species. On Jekyll
Island, GA, development concentrated in the center of the island has prevented snakes
from traversing end to end, leading to 2 genetically distinct populations. Using 8
years of telemetry data on 26 C. adamanteus, we analyzed habitat attributes and spatial
requirements most utilized by the snakes to design a maritime grassland restoration
plan. With the impending retirement of one of Jekyll’s golf courses, we also conducted
corridor analyses under 4 scenarios—present state and 3 different golf course restorations—to
select a restoration site that best aids in reestablishing gene flow between populations,
while also identifying ways to minimize connectivity benefits vs. cost of management
tradeoffs. We found that C. adamanteus use of space varies among habitats across the
island, where snakes in open-canopied habitats (dune, marsh) have smaller home ranges
than forest snakes. Snakes preferred open-canopies (0-25% cover) with dense ground
cover (75-100% cover). We also determined that the restoration of a combination of
courses best improves end to end snake connectivity potential, but the analysis can
be adjusted to accommodate varying project goals.
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