Project Title
Effects of winter shelter characteristics on overwintering duration, body mass loss, and Ophidiomyces ophidiicola infection load in a southeastern population of Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus)
Faculty Mentor(s) Name(s)
Dominic DeSantis
Abstract
Snakes in temperate regions undergo a period of general inactivity during the winter season, known as brumation. The challenges associated with monitoring many solitary individuals along with the assumption that winter is a weaker selective force in southern temperate regions has led to a lack of information on the overwintering ecology of snake species from these areas. More than a decade of research on snake populations across eastern North America has recognized the prevalence of Ophidiomycosis (“Snake Fungal Disease”), caused by the fungal pathogen Ophidiomyces ophidiicola (Oo). Recent work has shown that Oo infection rates and loads are greatest during the spring, shortly after the emergence from overwintering shelters. Our aim is to leverage the unique occurrence of communal and solitary overwintering sites within a Georgia Piedmont population of Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) to quantify relationships between winter shelter site type (rock pile, stream bank, stump hole; solitary vs. communal) on Oo infection load, body mass loss, and brumation duration. These results will inform on the proximate and ultimate factors influencing overwintering site selection and can improve understanding of factors that might predict Oo infection likelihood and severity in C. horridus and other snakes.
Effects of winter shelter characteristics on overwintering duration, body mass loss, and Ophidiomyces ophidiicola infection load in a southeastern population of Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus)
Snakes in temperate regions undergo a period of general inactivity during the winter season, known as brumation. The challenges associated with monitoring many solitary individuals along with the assumption that winter is a weaker selective force in southern temperate regions has led to a lack of information on the overwintering ecology of snake species from these areas. More than a decade of research on snake populations across eastern North America has recognized the prevalence of Ophidiomycosis (“Snake Fungal Disease”), caused by the fungal pathogen Ophidiomyces ophidiicola (Oo). Recent work has shown that Oo infection rates and loads are greatest during the spring, shortly after the emergence from overwintering shelters. Our aim is to leverage the unique occurrence of communal and solitary overwintering sites within a Georgia Piedmont population of Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) to quantify relationships between winter shelter site type (rock pile, stream bank, stump hole; solitary vs. communal) on Oo infection load, body mass loss, and brumation duration. These results will inform on the proximate and ultimate factors influencing overwintering site selection and can improve understanding of factors that might predict Oo infection likelihood and severity in C. horridus and other snakes.