Paper Session Abstracts

Meeting of the Tennessee Herpetological Society

Gray, Tennessee ‘07

Bryan, Danny L.

A Two Year Study Of Over-Winter Survival Rates Of Timber Rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus, From An Artificial Hibernaculum

Cumberland University, Lebanon, TN.

The Timber Rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus, is declining throughout much of its natural range. One possible contributing factor to this decline is the low over-wintering survival rates by young of the species. Several litters of timber rattlesnakes were placed in an artificial hibernaculum to determine over-wintering survival rates during a two year study. Minimum and maximum temperatures inside the structure were recorded from 22 December 2005 through 31 March 2006 and 11 November 2006 through 10 March 2007. Surviving snakes were counted and weighed on 02 April 2006 and 10 March 2007. Provided that young snakes locate adequate hibernacula, this study may indicate that over-wintering survival success should be relatively high in Middle Tennessee.

Burghardt, Gordon M.

Combating Ophiophobia: Is it Essential for Conservation of Snakes?

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

This talk will briefly explore some of the history of responses to snakes across cultures, time, and religion. The literature on fear of snakes, educational efforts in zoos and elsewhere, and some possible ideas for research and amelioration will be thrown out for discussion. This is a serious issue not receiving sufficient attention, and may be critical given the ecological processes underlying the distribution of many snake populations. Current situations on which the author is working involving Plains and Butler's gartersnakes in Ohio and Wisconsin, respectively, will be reviewed along with anticipating possible controversies in Tennessee.

Byrd, John

Schoolyard Wetlands A Case Study

Retired Biology Teacher and Coordinator of the Clinch River Environmental Studies Organization (CRESO) - presently serves as an educational consultant for Anderson County Schools in Clinton, TN.

“Why does this Green Frog have 5 legs?” This observation and question, based on the finding of a Norris student, is the heart of science. Asking the questions “what’s here and how does it change over time” demands a curriculum rich in discovery and hypotheses-based science, applied math, literacy, and technology. The Norris Elementary Wetland (NEW), located in Anderson County, TN, was completed in January of 2007. Built totally by community volunteers, this $100,000 wetland project serves as an outdoor lab and helps manage storm-water runoff. A major goal is for students to conduct research on the parade of organisms that “march” into the NEW habitat, including the scope of amphibian deformities in our area. Supported by a Toyota grant, Norris Elementary Wetland Teachers (NEWTs) are participating in on-site workshops and selecting wetland research projects with their students. We want a community of learners with a solid understanding of how these unique habitats contribute to quality of life.

Schoolyard wetlands are an excellent strategy for reconnecting our youth to their local landscape. The success of the NEW has resulted in Anderson County Schools and their partners committing to build four more schoolyard wetlands this fall. If you haven’t already, I would encourage you to get involved with a schoolyard wetland project. It is important for kids to take part in all phases of the construction, ranging from site selection and preparation, to surveying, and planting wetland plants. There are excellent resources available for planning and using wetlands, including two books by Tom Biebighauser (A Guide to Creating Vernal Ponds and Wetland Drainage, Restoration, and Repair). The Wonders of Wetlands (WOW) is a good curriculum source for helping teachers and students study their wetland. The fact that our educational curriculum, based on high stakes testing, in concert with certain laws and litigation concerns, discourages outdoor learning makes it even more critical to support these kinds of endeavors (see Last Child in the Woods, 2005, by R. Louv).

Davis, Karen M.

Social Behavior of Emydid Turtles in a Naturalistic Setting

Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee

Turtle social behavior is little studied in spite of their phylogeneticposition as either the most basal reptile taxon or the sister taxon to the highly social birds and crocodilians. Although parental care, ubiquitous in birds and crocodilians, is lacking in turtles, they do interact during feeding, courtship, and basking. Nevertheless, detailed studies of social dynamics from a comparative perspective, especially of aquatic turtles, are rare. Social interactions of an established mixed species group of closely related freshwater turtles (Emydidae) were studied in a naturalistic enclosure. Video sequences of underwater turtle interactions were analyzed. Turtles were found to interact mainly with individuals of their own or most closely related species. The behavioral repertoire used and frequency of social interactions varied seasonally. Agonistic social interactions included,but were not limited to, gapes, snaps, bites, chases, pushes, and retreats. Social interactions were seen in all sexual pairings, with intense aggressive interactions more prevalent with male-male pairs and courtship interactions more common with female-male pairs. Some aggressive interactions included intense harassment of a lower ranking male by coalitions of two or more higher ranking males. These findings indicate that turtles are active social animals that interact with specific individuals.

Dykes, Scott

Tiger Salamanders of Henderson Island

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

Tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) are not common in the eastern part of Tennessee. Recently, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) biologists discovered a breeding population in a fish-rearing pond on Henderson Island Wildlife Management Area in Jefferson County, Tennessee.

Dykes, Scott

Snakes of East Tennessee

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

Misconceptions about snake species in east Tennessee are common in the general public. For this reason, a poster reflecting snake species found in east Tennessee was designed for display at fairs, public meetings, and in other areas frequented by the public. TWRA coordinated with individual photographers to gain their permission for use of their photos on this poster.

Foster, Melissa A.¹; Emily Groseclose² and Matthew J. Gray¹

A Case Study on the Effectiveness of the BioBlitz Survey at Estimating Herpetofaunal Richness

University of Tennessee-Knoxville¹, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency²

BioBlitz surveys are short-duration (i.e., < 3d), effort-intensive surveys designed to rapidly assess species richness in a given area. To date, no studies have examined the effectiveness of BioBlitz surveys at estimating herpetofaunal richness. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare herpetofaunal species lists between a 3-day BioBlitz survey (conducted 20-22 June 2006) and a 3-month (June-August 2007) sampling effort performed by two observers at the Rocky Fork Unit of Cherokee Wildlife Management Area (Unicoi Co., TN). Both surveys included artificial cover (wood and tin) and visual encounter surveys. The 3-month survey also used drift fence arrays, pitfall traps, funnel traps and anuran call surveys. Overall, 19 caudate species were detected at Rocky Fork, 11 of which were detected by both surveys. Five species were observed only during the BioBlitz and 3 unique species were recorded during the 3-month survey. Of the 9 anuran species recorded at Rocky Fork, 2 species were detected by both survey types, 6 of these were detected only by the 3-month survey and 1 species was recorded solely during the BioBlitz. Six snake species also were documented, with 5 of those detected during both surveys. Differences in species detection between survey types were attributed to differences in sampling duration, intensity and techniques, and possibly temporal variation associated with breeding seasons and ambient conditions. Our results suggest that the BioBlitz survey is relatively effective at documenting caudate and snake species, but may underestimate species richness of the anuran community. Longer duration surveys may be necessary to accurately estimate anuran community composition.

Haislip, Nathan

Abundances of Grassland Snakes as Avian Predators

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Grassland songbird populations have been declining in recent years because of loss of native grasslands. The native warm season grasslands that are left are the only refuge for these declining populations. The size of these grasslands may be directly related to the success of these populations based on factors such as predation impact. Smaller grasslands may have lower reproductive success because edge predators, such as snakes, can easily penetrate the interior of the grassland, thus providing no refuge from predators to the songbirds. This project is designed to test the hypothesis that large grasslands will have lower abundances of snake predators in the interior than smaller grasslands. This will be accomplished by trapping snakes in the interiors of both large and small grasslands with drift fences. Box traps and funnel traps will be placed along these drift fences to access the abundance and diversity of snake populations within these two habitats.

Hamed, M. Kevin¹; Dale P. Ledford² and Thomas F. Laughlin²

Use of Passive Integrated Transponders in Monitoring Migration and Habitat Use in Ambystomatid Salamanders

¹Virginia Highlands Community College, ²East Tennessee State University

Previous studies have made use of a number of different marking and tracking methodologies in the analysis of habitat usage and migration patterns of Ambystomatid salamanders. We are investigating the utility of Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags as a means of identifying and tracking specific individual salamanders over extended periods of time. Recent improvements in antenna technology allow the detection of fossorial animals at depths of up to 30cm. Our results thus far indicate that individual salamanders marked up to 2 years previously can be detected and identified subterraneously in non-breeding habitat and that estimates of emigration distances and daily movements are obtainable in Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) with this technology.

Lavoie, Leah; Erin Burns, Charlie Burns, Katie Sloop and John Rucker

Population Survey of Eastern Box Turtles Prior to a Silviculture Clear-cut

Clinch River Environmental Studies Organization

In 2006 researchers at the Clinch River Environmental Studies Organization (CRESO) began a population study of the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) in order to assess the impact of a silvicultural clear-cut. The study site, located in Oak Ridge, TN, is owned and managed by the University of Tennessee Forest Resource Research and Education Center. We systematically searched the pre-logging area in 50 square meter plots and beginning in July of 2006 dogs (Boykin Spaniels) were used to hunt for turtles. The above combination of techniques has resulted in a total of 369 captures (299 by dog and 70 by people) and the use of dogs has enabled us to obtain a better estimate of population size and age structure in our sample. Radiotelemetry was used to determine home-ranges, hibernation sites, reproductive behavior and resource use. Radiotelemetry has also provided information to help define the boundaries of our post-logging search effort outside of the clear-cut area. Observations of turtle behavior in our study suggest that certain trees affected with wet-wood disease, a bacteria infection affecting the cambium, are sometimes used as an energetic resource by turtles; an observation previously undocumented in the literature.

O'Bryan, Chris

A Basking Behavior Study of the Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone s. spinifera) in Steele Creek Park, Bristol, Sullivan County, Tennessee

Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN 37044

This study was focused on the Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera spinifera) in Steele Creek Park Lake, Bristol, Sullivan County, Tennessee. The objective was to study the basking behavior of females and males to determine whether large females dominated the basking sites compared to smaller males. Other population data was gathered, which included adult versus juvenile basking time differentiations, other species data and overall visual observations of basking activity.

Pokhrel, Lok Raj; Karsai Istvan, Martha E. Meredith and M. Kevin Hamed

Mapping the Skin Pattern of Spotted Salamander, Ambystoma maculatum

East Tennessee State University

Animal skin patterns in general seem intricate and diverse, but theoretical studies suggest that most mechanisms generally involved are commonly based on reaction diffusion equations. In early larval salamanders, the different pigmented cells can combine to generate a variety of pigment patterns including vertical bars and horizontal stripes. We are studying the naturally occurring patterns of spot formation in salamanders utilizing a photographic database of nineteen specimens of the Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum).

Powers, Lisa

Keeping Lisa Out of Jail; or What You Can Do as a Citizen to Prevent the Unwarranted and Illegal Killing of Snakes on Public Property

Frog haven Farm

We are all familiar with the state laws that protect all native wildlife, including snakes. But should we encounter someone who is blatantly ignoring the law, even though he knows it, what can we do legally to stop it?

After a brief introduction and history, I will open the floor up for a discussion to figure out what we can/need to do as a society and individuals to uphold the state laws.

Ream, Joshua T. and A. Floyd Scott

Preliminary Observations on Habitat Preference, Movement Patterns, and Survival of Introduced Juvenile Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys temminckii)

The Center for Field Biology, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN 37044

We used marked-recapture and radiotelemetry to monitor non-native juvenile Alligator Snapping Turtles, Macrochelys temminckii, following release at the Wolf River Wildlife Management Area, Fayette County, TN. Data were collected from May to August of 2007. The turtles exhibited non-random use of habitat, strongly associating with the water’s edge, shallow depths, cover objects, high canopy cover, and aquatic vegetation. Movement was limited over the summer months and occurred more frequently during May and June than in July and August. Substantial movement occurred in the days directly following release. One death was confirmed to date among the 74 individuals released. Two juvenile individuals were captured that were not among those released by us; these are suspected to be survivors from an unmarked group released in 2005. No adults or native individuals have been captured. Future efforts will involve continued trapping and radio tracking of previously released study animals plus additional radio tagged individuals to be released in spring 2008. This work is being supported by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Austin Peay State University’s Center for Field Biology.

Ream, Joshua T. and A. Floyd Scott

A Preliminary Report on the Structure and Composition of a West Tennessee Turtle Assemblage

The Center for Field Biology, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN 37044

We report on 4 months (May-August 2007) of a two-year ongoing marked-recapture study of a diverse turtle assemblage in Fayette County, TN. Eight aquatic and 1 terrestrial species were recorded in two contrasting habitat types: a cypress/tupelo dominated backwater slough and the main channel of the Wolf River. In the slough, Sternotherus odoratus was most prevalent while Trachemys scripta contributed the greatest biomass. In the channel, Sternotherus odoratus was also the most prevalent though Apalone spinifera contributed the most biomass. In both habitats, species richness increased as a function of trapping effort. Date and time of capture among species may lend important information on activity patterns both on a seasonal and a circadian scale. Future efforts will attempt to increase our sample size, capture previously marked individuals, and compare relative abundance between years. This work is being supported by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Austin Peay State University’s Center for Field Biology.

Scott, A. Floyd and Bill Redmond

Atlas of Reptiles in Tennessee: The Final Progress Report

The Center for Field Biology, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN 37044

Sykes, Kyle L. and Matthew Klukowski

Effects of Confinement and Temperature on Plasma Levels of Corticosterone in the Northern Watersnake, Nerodia sipedon, (Colubridae: Natricinae)

Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA

Abstract: In vertebrates, the typical hormonal response to stress is characterized by an increase in plasma glucocorticoids but few studies have concentrated on stress in snakes. In 2005, 16 Northern watersnakes (Nerodia sipedon) were caught and bled to determine baseline levels of corticosterone, and, after one hour of confinement, a second blood sample was taken to determine the effects of confinement on plasma corticosterone. Confinement resulted in an average increase of plasma corticosterone by five-fold. The magnitude of this increase appears to be substantially greater than that previously reported for Agkistrodon contortrix and Thamnophis sirtalis. Baseline corticosterone was positively correlated with both body mass and post-confinement corticosterone levels. In addition, male N. sipedon had significantly higher hematocrit levels than females. In 2006, 30 N. sipedon were caught and subjected to a combined confinement and acute temperature stress (warmed, cooled, control). All groups exhibited robust corticosterone responses, but there was no effect of temperature treatment. As in 2005, males had significantly higher hematocrit levels than females, however, females exhibited post-stress corticosterone levels approximately double that of males.

Thurman, Mark; Chris Simpson, Kirk Miles and Casey Pittman

Faunal Survey of the Oak Savanna and Early Succession Habitat on Catoosa Wildlife Management Area

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Region III

The Oak Savanna Restoration Project is designed to establish and maintain permanent savanna habitat on the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area. Intensive management activities including timber thinning and burning in consecutive years (up to 4 years) have been employed to establish the oak savanna. The importance of this type of open woodland for many species has been stressed in the literature. In the Tennessee Wildlife Action Plan 37 Greatest Conservation Need (GCN) species were assigned preferences for grassland and early succession habitats (Cumberland Plateau Region). The objectives of this project were to measure the response of the animal communities to the intensive management taking place and to assess key limiting factors identified in the TWAP for GCN species. As part of this survey, drift fences were installed at four sites within the oak savanna project area and two were installed in early successional habitat resulting from regeneration cuts. Drift fence legs were 100ft in length with a 4’x 4’ box at the center of the array. Two double ended funnel traps were placed on each leg. The four savanna drift fences were opened between May 7 and May 22 and remained open for an average of 131 days. The 2 fences in the early successional habitat were opened in June and July and were opened for an average of 88 days. Thirty four species (224 captures) were collected at the drift fences. Allegheny woodrat, timber rattlesnake, eastern box turtle and eastern hognosed snake were GCN species collected. Habitat variables including canopy, understory and component mixture were measured at each site to determine if stand characteristics effected presence of GCN species. All GCN species were collected at sites that had been burned (savanna sites) and had high percentages of understory development. The sites that had the most GCN captures had the highest percentages of grasses in the understory. The information collected in this survey will serve as baseline data for future studies and has led to a better understanding of the key limiting factors associated with grassland/woodland species.

Waffa, Bradley J.; Nathan Bourne and Jonathan Evans

A Preliminary Methodological Assessment of Thread Trailing as a Research Tool for Monitoring Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina) on the Cumberland Plateau

Department of Biology, The University of the South, 735 University Avenue, Sewanee, Tennessee 37383-1000

Thread trailing, a technique in which a chelonian drags string from a carapace-mounted spool, is a method that has been used to study movement patterns and their associated ecological and behavioral consequences. In this study we tested various thread trailing designs on Eastern box turtles ( Terrapene carolina) of different sizes. We were also interested in determining the optimal design for multiple terrain types, and for use over longer periods of time than previously reported in the literature. These efforts led to the construction of a design that is lighter in weight, less invasive to the turtle, and more accommodating for longer thread spools than previously reported. We are planning to use the thread trailing technique to track a set of turtles to determine movement patterns relating to the onset of winter and selection of hibernacula. Future studies also involving this technique will examine the effect of habitat fragmentation on box turtle population dynamics on the Cumberland Plateau.