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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2020

Integrating underwater surveys, telemetry and citizen science to understand drivers of movement in sea snakes

Olivier Chateau
Richard Shine

Résumé

As reef meso-predators, sea snakes play an important role in reef ecosystems and are bio-indicators for eel populations and overall reef health. Strong evidence suggests that marine snakes are able to identify changes in environmental conditions (i.e. tide, lunar phase, water temperature, air pressure) and use these as cues to alter behaviour to capture prey, avoid predators, find mates, and survive storm conditions. However, research on this topic has been restricted to changes in the observed abundance of snakes at different time periods, with few data on continuous movements and use of space of these animals over extended periods. In this study, we incorporated mark-recapture data collected using regular underwater surveys with passive acoustic telemetry methods and local citizen science initiatives to study the ecology of sea snakes at a higher resolution and identify environmental factors that influence their movements and home ranges in Noumea, New Caledonia. The increased resolution of movements and habitat use gained from the combination of methods of data collection highlighted strong tidal and seasonal patterns of residency in Olive-headed sea snakes (Hydrophis major). We also found strong species-specific differences in dispersal capacities across three species of sea snake commonly found in Noumea (Emydocephalus annulatus, Hydrophis major, Aipysurus duboisii), highlighting variable habitat use patterns within a single site. Movement and habitat use information can provide an insight into how sea snake populations may react to acute or chronic changes to the ecosystem.
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Dates et versions

hal-03394157 , version 1 (22-10-2021)

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  • HAL Id : hal-03394157 , version 1

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Claire Goiran, Vinay Udyawer, Olivier Chateau, Fantastic Grandmothers Citizen Science Group, Richard Shine. Integrating underwater surveys, telemetry and citizen science to understand drivers of movement in sea snakes. 9th World Congress of Herpetology, Jan 2020, Dunedin, New Zealand. ⟨hal-03394157⟩

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