Identifying Potential Connectivity for an Urban Population of Rattlesnakes ( Sistrurus catenatus ) in a Canadian Park System

Jonathan D. Choquette, Matthew R. Macpherson and Robert C. Corry
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Jonathan D. Choquette: School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Matthew R. Macpherson: Wildlife Preservation Canada, 5420 Highway 6 North, Guelph, ON N1H 6J2, Canada
Robert C. Corry: School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 9, 1-38

Abstract: In the face of ongoing habitat loss and fragmentation, maintaining an adequate level of landscape connectivity is needed to both encourage dispersal between habitat patches and to reduce the extinction risk of fragmented wildlife populations. In a developing region of southwestern Ontario, Canada, a declining population of Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes ( Sistrurus catenatus ) persists in fragmented remnants of tallgrass prairie in an urban park system. The goal of this study was to identify potential connectivity pathways between habitat patches for this species by using a GIS least-cost permeability swath model, and to evaluate the outputs with snake road mortality data. Results identified seven pathways between five core habitat blocks, a subset of which were validated with aerial imagery and mortality data. Four high-ranking pathways intersected roads through or near road mortality hotspots. This research will guide conservation interventions aimed at recovering endangered reptiles in a globally rare ecosystem, and will inform the use of permeability swaths for the identification of locations most suitable for connectivity interventions in dynamic, urbanizing landscapes.

Keywords: urban ecosystem; wildlife corridor; potential connectivity pathway; conservation biology; herpetology; Massasauga; Ojibway Prairie (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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