Snakes of Port-Cros National Park islands: Capture-Mark-Recapture study of Malpolon monspessulanus and Rhinechis scalaris (original) (raw)

2016

Abstract

Snakes are useful in ecosystem surveys as they can act as environmental indicators and can be model organisms to address conservation and fundamental issues. However, researchers and managers — 24 — rarely focus on these unpopular organisms. In 2012, we initiated a Capture-Mark-Recapture study of two Mediterranean snakes on Port-Cros and Porquerolles Island to redress this taxonomic bias and to improve current knowledge of these species. We set up a network of fibrocement slabs to facilitate the capture of the snakes. During a 3 year survey, we marked a total of 174 individuals, predominantly Malpolon monspessulanus (n = 125). Although capture numbers on each island were similar, snake density is likely to be different. Many very large individuals of both species were observed on both islands. Encouragingly, the recapture rate was 20 % and 15 % for M. monspessulanus and Rhinechis scalaris respectively, demonstrating the effectiveness of the study method. We also collected the first ...

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