Broad-scale predictions of herpetofauna occupancy and colonization in an agriculturally dominated landscape.

Autor: Harris JP; Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America., Harms TM; Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.; Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Boone, Iowa, United States of America., Kinkead KE; Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Boone, Iowa, United States of America., Frese PW; Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Boone, Iowa, United States of America., Delaney DM; Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America., Buckardt EM; Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America., Dinsmore SJ; Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2024 Oct 30; Vol. 19 (10), pp. e0306655. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Oct 30 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0306655
Abstrakt: Predictions of species occurrence allow land managers to focus conservation efforts on locations where species are most likely to occur. Such analyses are rare for herpetofauna compared to other taxa, despite increasing evidence that herptile populations are declining because of landcover change and habitat fragmentation. Our objective was to create predictions of occupancy and colonization probabilities for 15 herptiles of greatest conservation need in Iowa. From 2006-2014, we surveyed 295 properties throughout Iowa for herptile presence using timed visual-encounter surveys, coverboards, and aquatic traps. Data were analyzed using robust design occupancy modeling with landscape-level covariates. Occupancy ranged from 0.01 (95% CI = -0.01, 0.03) for prairie ringneck snake (Diadophis punctatus arnyi) to 0.90 (95% CI = 0.898, 0.904) for northern leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens). Occupancy for most species correlated to landscape features at the 1-km scale. General patterns of species' occupancy included negative effects of agricultural features and positive effects of water features on turtles and frogs. Colonization probabilities ranged from 0.007 (95% CI = 0.006, 0.008) for spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera) to 0.82 (95% CI = 0.62, 1.0) for western fox snake (Pantherophis ramspotti). Colonization probabilities for most species were best explained by effects of water and grassland landscape features. Predictive models had strong support (AUC > 0.70) for six out of 15 species (40%), including all three turtles studied. Our results provide estimates of occupancy and colonization probabilities and spatial predictions of occurrence for herptiles of greatest conservation need across the state of Iowa.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2024 Harris et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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