Date Available
8-16-2022
Year of Publication
2022
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Forest and Natural Resource Sciences (MSFNRS)
College
Agriculture, Food and Environment
Department/School/Program
Forestry and Natural Resources
Advisor
Dr. Steven Price
Abstract
Having only emerged as a threat to snakes in 2006, relatively little is known of snake fungal disease’s (SFD) impacts on demographic processes, particularly survival and growth. I used data from an extensive capture-mark-recapture study to examine survival and growth in central Kentucky Queensnake (Regina septemivittata) populations. I found that diseased snakes and healthy snakes possessed similar monthly survival estimates (SFD positive 0.9687, 95% CI 0.8444 to 0.9944; SFD negative 0.8735, 95% CI 0.7518 to 0.9402) and that disease state transition probability from SFD negative to SFD positive, and SFD positive to SFD negative were also similar (N-P 0.4807, 95% CI 0.3395 to 0.6251; P-N 0.3461 95% CI 0.2523 to 0.4536). Additionally, I found that diseased snakes exhibited heightened growth rates (1.12 mm/month females, 0.91 mm/month males) compared to healthy snakes (0.73 mm/month females, 0.59 mm/month males).
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2022.348
Recommended Citation
Ibach, Andrew Jerome, "EFFECTS OF SNAKE FUNGAL DISEASE ON THE SURVIVAL AND GROWTH OF THE QUEENSNAKE (REGINA SEPTEMVITTATA)" (2022). Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources. 66.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/forestry_etds/66
