Canopy removal restores habitat quality for an endangered snake in a fire suppressed landscape

Webb, JK; Shine, R; Pringle, RM

Canopy removal restores habitat quality for an endangered snake in a fire suppressed landscape

Webb, JK

Shine, R Pringle, RM

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Copeia, 2005, (4), pp. 894 - 900
Issue Date:: 2005-12-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Webb, JK https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4822-6829	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Shine, R	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Pringle, RM	en_US
dc.date.issued	2005-12-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Copeia, 2005, (4), pp. 894 - 900	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0045-8511	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/22109
dc.description.abstract	In the last two centuries, European fire suppression practices have produced increases in vegetation density and canopy cover in many landscapes. Potentially, increases in canopy cover could negatively affect small populations of nocturnal reptiles that use sun-exposed shelters for diurnal thermoregulation. We hypothesized that vegetation encroachment over rock outcrops might partly explain the recent decline of Australia's most endangered snake, the Broad-headed Snake Hoplocephalus bungaroides. To test this hypothesis, we carried out a field study in Morton National Park, southeastern Australia. We removed overhanging vegetation from above shaded rocks and compared their subsequent usage by reptiles to control (shaded) rocks. In spring, one year after canopy removal, experimental rocks were 10.3 C hotter than control rocks and were used as diurnal retreat sites by three species of reptiles, including the endangered Broad-headed Snake and its prey (Velvet Gecko, Oedura lesueurii). By contrast, no reptiles used control rocks as diurnal retreat sites. Our results show that modest canopy removal (∼15% increase in canopy openness) can restore habitat quality for nocturnal reptiles. Future studies are needed to examine whether controlled burns can maintain an open canopy above sandstone rock outcrops. However, until effective fire management measures are in place, sapling removal from overgrown rock outcrops could help to protect small populations of endangered reptiles. © 2005 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Copeia	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1643/0045-8511(2005)005[0894:CRRHQF]2.0.CO;2	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Zoology	en_US
dc.title	Canopy removal restores habitat quality for an endangered snake in a fire suppressed landscape	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	4	en_US
utslib.for	060299 Ecology not elsewhere classified	en_US
utslib.for	0501 Ecological Applications	en_US
utslib.for	0608 Zoology	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	4	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US

Abstract:

In the last two centuries, European fire suppression practices have produced increases in vegetation density and canopy cover in many landscapes. Potentially, increases in canopy cover could negatively affect small populations of nocturnal reptiles that use sun-exposed shelters for diurnal thermoregulation. We hypothesized that vegetation encroachment over rock outcrops might partly explain the recent decline of Australia's most endangered snake, the Broad-headed Snake Hoplocephalus bungaroides. To test this hypothesis, we carried out a field study in Morton National Park, southeastern Australia. We removed overhanging vegetation from above shaded rocks and compared their subsequent usage by reptiles to control (shaded) rocks. In spring, one year after canopy removal, experimental rocks were 10.3 C hotter than control rocks and were used as diurnal retreat sites by three species of reptiles, including the endangered Broad-headed Snake and its prey (Velvet Gecko, Oedura lesueurii). By contrast, no reptiles used control rocks as diurnal retreat sites. Our results show that modest canopy removal (∼15% increase in canopy openness) can restore habitat quality for nocturnal reptiles. Future studies are needed to examine whether controlled burns can maintain an open canopy above sandstone rock outcrops. However, until effective fire management measures are in place, sapling removal from overgrown rock outcrops could help to protect small populations of endangered reptiles. © 2005 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/22109