{"title":"Dispersal by gray ratsnakes: Effects of sex, age and time","authors":"G. Blouin‐Demers","doi":"10.1002/1438-390x.12072","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Funding information University of Illinois; World Wildlife Fund; Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources; Parks Canada; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Abstract Dispersal is one of the most fundamental components of ecology. Dispersal is also particularly relevant in an era of unprecedented habitat loss and climate change. We used a unique dataset to examine dispersal in gray ratsnakes (Pantherophis spiloides). Over a decade, we marked and released >1,500 hatchlings while monitoring the population of ratsnakes over a large area (≈1,900 ha). We tested the hypotheses that dispersal should be (a) largely restricted to within the local population given previous genetic evidence of limited gene flow at greater distances and (b) male biased because male gray ratsnakes are under strong sexual selection. We recaptured 69 gray ratsnakes that had been marked as hatchlings after periods ranging from 1 day to 11 years. We found that dispersal distance increased with time, but was not significantly sexbiased, and that gray ratsnakes are extremely faithful to their communal hibernacula (only 2.8% of 497 juvenile and adult ratsnakes captured at least twice at communal hibernacula changed sites between years). Thus, dispersal is largely limited to the period from hatching until an individual joins a communal hibernaculum. Based on the spatial patterns of dispersal we observed, the most plausible explanation for dispersal is that hatchling ratsnakes disperse from their natal site to join a neighboring communal hibernaculum. Our study yielded the most reliable data on dispersal distances from birth by a snake to date.","PeriodicalId":54597,"journal":{"name":"Population Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2020-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1002/1438-390x.12072","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Population Ecology","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/1438-390x.12072","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
Funding information University of Illinois; World Wildlife Fund; Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources; Parks Canada; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Abstract Dispersal is one of the most fundamental components of ecology. Dispersal is also particularly relevant in an era of unprecedented habitat loss and climate change. We used a unique dataset to examine dispersal in gray ratsnakes (Pantherophis spiloides). Over a decade, we marked and released >1,500 hatchlings while monitoring the population of ratsnakes over a large area (≈1,900 ha). We tested the hypotheses that dispersal should be (a) largely restricted to within the local population given previous genetic evidence of limited gene flow at greater distances and (b) male biased because male gray ratsnakes are under strong sexual selection. We recaptured 69 gray ratsnakes that had been marked as hatchlings after periods ranging from 1 day to 11 years. We found that dispersal distance increased with time, but was not significantly sexbiased, and that gray ratsnakes are extremely faithful to their communal hibernacula (only 2.8% of 497 juvenile and adult ratsnakes captured at least twice at communal hibernacula changed sites between years). Thus, dispersal is largely limited to the period from hatching until an individual joins a communal hibernaculum. Based on the spatial patterns of dispersal we observed, the most plausible explanation for dispersal is that hatchling ratsnakes disperse from their natal site to join a neighboring communal hibernaculum. Our study yielded the most reliable data on dispersal distances from birth by a snake to date.
期刊介绍:
Population Ecology, formerly known as Researches on Population Ecology launched in Dec 1952, is the official journal of the Society of Population Ecology. Population Ecology publishes original research articles and reviews (including invited reviews) on various aspects of population ecology, from the individual to the community level. Among the specific fields included are population dynamics and distribution, evolutionary ecology, ecological genetics, theoretical models, conservation biology, agroecosystem studies, and bioresource management. Manuscripts should contain new results of empirical and/or theoretical investigations concerning facts, patterns, processes, mechanisms or concepts of population ecology; those purely descriptive in nature are not suitable for this journal. All manuscripts are reviewed anonymously by two or more referees, and the final editorial decision is made by the Chief Editor or an Associate Editor based on the referees'' evaluations.