Northern Mexican gartersnake demographics and movement ecology

Cooperator Science Series CSS-158-2024
By: , and 

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Abstract

The northern Mexican gartersnake (Thamnophis eques; hereafter NMGS) is a federally threatened species occurring in riparian areas in central and southeast Arizona and west-central New Mexico. While previous studies have examined the ecology of this species in central Arizona, less is known about NMGS ecology in grassland landscapes of southeast Arizona. This project continues a long-term mark-recapture study of NMGS in the upper Santa Cruz River in the San Rafael Valley of southeast Arizona. We analyzed mark-recapture data collected by Arizona Game and Fish Department from 2008–2019 and included data we collected during 2022 and 2023. We also studied NMGS movement ecology using a combination of externally attached GPS transmitters and surgically implanted VHF transmitters. We had 517 NMGS captures over 26 survey sessions across the entire study, 186 of which were captures of previously marked snakes. Most of our captures were females and evidence of a statistically significant female-biased sex ratio was present on three survey sessions. Trapping success was generally highest June-September and catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) was strongly correlated with the number of individuals captured. We used mark-recapture data from 288 individuals to estimate annual apparent survival and session-specific recapture probabilities. Annual apparent survival was higher for females (0.72, 95% highest posterior density intervals [HPDI] = 0.630.81) than for males (0.58, 95% HPDI = 0.44–0.72). Session-specific recapture probabilities were similar for males and females and were highly correlated with CPUE. During 2023, we monitored the movements of 13 adult females using GPS transmitters, two adult males using VHF transmitters, and one adult female using a GPS transmitter followed by a VHF transmitter. GPS transmitters were deployed from 7-18 days at a time as limited by battery life. After filtering out low-quality GPS locations, we obtained a total of 1,688 hourly GPS locations. Mean and maximum distances moved per hour ranged from 5.54–10.92 m and 15.24–135.71 m, respectively, across GPS transmitter attachment periods. Space use estimates from 100% minimum convex polygons ranged from 0.04–1.16 ha across GPS transmitter attachment periods. All documented NMGS movements during 2023 were relatively close (< 100 m) to the Santa Cruz River. These results continue to build upon our knowledge of NMGS ecology and suggest the continued presence of a relatively robust population within the upper Santa Cruz River.

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Publication type Report
Publication Subtype Federal Government Series
Title Northern Mexican gartersnake demographics and movement ecology
Series title Cooperator Science Series
Series number CSS-158-2024
DOI 10.3996/10.3996/css35094350
Publication Date October 11, 2024
Year Published 2024
Language English
Publisher U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Contributing office(s) Coop Res Unit Seattle
Description 45 p.
Country United States
State Arizona
Other Geospatial San Rafael Valley, Upper Santa Cruz River
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