Habitat Use, Home Range, and Movement Rates in Two Sympatric Crotaline Snakes in Far West Texas

Calvin H. Schaefer
Dr. Chad Montgomery, Faculty Mentor

Niche partitioning exists as an explanation of coexistence of two species with overlapping niches, which would theoretically be in competition. In this study, we examined two sympatric desert snakes for evidence of niche partitioning along the spatial dimension of the niche. We examined the Eastern Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus ornatus) and Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) at Indio Mountain Research Station in Hudspeth County, Texas. We tracked the movements of the two species using radiotelemetry and analyzed macrohabitat and microhabitat data using a combination of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and contingency table analyses. Evidence of niche partitioning along the spatial dimension of the niche exists between the two species, with C. ornatus showing a higher affinity for southwest facing, rocky slopes.

Keywords: Ecology, Herpetology, Niche Partitioning, Rattlesnakes

Topic(s):Biology

Presentation Type: Poster

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA