Long-term Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Monitoring

Since 2008, we have been monitoring a sea island eastern diamondback rattlesnake ​(C. adamanteus; EDB) population to examine questions about EDB ecology and conservation. Although project goals have changed over the years, the research uses radio telemetry and mark-recapture data to address management and conservation issues.

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​Current research activities include:

• Using adaptive management to develop and assess human-rattlesnake conflicts management policy
• EDB reproductive ecology
• EDB habitat use and movement ecology
• Population health
  
  Collaborators:
  John D. Holloway [1], Stacey Leonatti Wilkinson [2], Will Wilkinson [2], Mary Cate Miller [2], Holly Cyphert [3], Jennifer Mosher [3], Herman Mays [3], Joseph Hoyt [4], Dane Conley [4], Corinna Hazelrig [5], Nicole Nemeth [5], and Jeffrey Lorch [6]
  
  [1]  Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Office, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SC 29905, USA
  [2] Avian & Exotic Animal Hospital of Georgia, 118 Pipemakers Circle, Suite 110, Pooler, GA 31322
  [3] Marshall University, Department of Biological Sciences, 1 John Marshall Drive, Huntington, WV 25755
  [4] Virginia Tech. Department of Biological Sciences, 926 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24061
  [5] South Carolina Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, 589 D. W. Brooks Drive, Athens, GA 30602
  [6] National Wildlife Health Center, 6006 Schroeder Road, Madison, WI 53711
  
  Student Participants:
  Marshall University Herpetology & Applied Conservation Lab: Emily Gray, Carissa Adams, Sarah Ebert, Casey Hitchens
  
  ​Funding for this research was provided by DoD Legacy, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Office (Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island), and Riverbanks Zoo and Garden.

Sarah Ebert and Anna McCallum Humphrey with an EDB

Emily Gray capturing an EDB

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Post-Translocation Southern Fox Squirrel Monitoring

In 2016 and 2017, Southern fox squirrels (SFS; Scurius niger niger) were translocated to coastal South Carolina with the goal of establishing a viable population. Since then, we have used long-term mark-recapture and telemetry to evaluate population demography and movement. Current and past research projects include:

1. Comparing mark-recapture methods for estimating population abundance and detection probability
2. Habitat use and foraging behaviors
3. Evaluating effects of translocation on SFS occupancy and survival
   
   

Collaborators:
John D. Holloway [1], Dr. Shannon Carmichael [2]

[1] Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Office, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SC 29905, USA
[2] Sea Island Animal Hospital, 40 Professional Village Cir, Beaufort, SC 29907
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Student Participants:
Casey Hitchens, Maya Fink, McKenzie Merritt, Sarah Ebert, Emily Gray
Funding for this research was provided by DoD Legacy, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Office (Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island)

SFS snacking on pecans at a baited trap (photo: Casey Hitchens)

Sarah Ebert (left) and Casey Hitchens (right) release a SFS after equipping her with a radiotelemetry collar

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Modeling the Extirpation of Carolina Gopher Frogs in South Carolina

In light of Carolina Gopher Frog (Rana capito) population declines and the species’ review for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, we initiated an acoustic monitoring program at historical gopher frog breeding locations in South Carolina. In collaboration with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and with support of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the goals of the current study are to use remotely sensed acoustic anuran call data and gopher frog absence from historical breeding sites to assess extirpation at a regional scale.

Gopher Frog breeding habitat in South Carolina

Spectrogram of Carolina Gopher Frog calls, recorded in South Carolina

Will Dillman, herpetologist for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

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Long-term Amphibian and Reptile Monitoring in the South Carolina Coastal Plain

This project is being conducted in collaboration with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, who started monitoring rattlesnakes and corn snakes on state-owned properties in the South Carolina Coastal Plain in 1996. This study focuses on the imperiled longleaf pine ecosystem that once dominated the southeastern Coastal Plain. In 2010, the project was expanded to include anurans, salamanders, and all snake and turtle species.
This study has evolved into a long-term monitoring program that incorporates a natural experimental design to examine functional and structural aspects of ecological integrity. Currently, our long-term research is examining interactions between ecological restoration and species life history traits, with particular emphasis on species endemic to the longleaf pine ecosystem. This pioneering research was crucial for South Carolina's response to the petition to list eastern diamondback rattlesnakes (Crotalus adamanteus) for protection under the Endangered Species Act. This research has provided much-needed information about eastern diamondback rattlesnake ecology (habitat specificity, survival, age at maturation, and dispersal).

Graduate students in the Marshall University Herpetology and Applied Conservation Lab are strongly encouraged to participate in this research project. The lab makes numerous trips to the study site to collect long-term monitoring data. Students are encouraged to generate and conduct smaller studies that complement broader goals and have the potential to result in peer-reviewed publications (e.g., Fill et al. 2012).

Principal Investigators: Jayme Waldron & Shane Welch

Collaborators: South Carolina DNR biologists: Will Dillman, Jay Cantrell, Steve Bennett (retired), and Wade Kalinowsky.

Dr. Jayme Waldron and Dr. Shane Welch processing a canebrake rattlesnake at a long-term monitoring site in the South Carolina Coastal Plain.

Student Participants:
Marshall University Herpetology & Applied Conservation Lab: Kelli Herrick, Marcie Cruz, Elise Edwards, Derek Breakfield, Brian Williams, Nate Shepard, and Kevin Messenger.
University of South Carolina: Jennifer Fill and Mike Martin

Funding for this project was provided by South Carolina DNR, Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, National Wildlife Federation, and The Gopher Tortoise Council.

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The Marshall University Herpetology and Applied Conservation Lab acknowledges the following organizations for supporting our South Carolina research projects.

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