Distribution, Prediction, and Hotspot Analysis of Terrestrial Snakes in Taiwan
Date Issued
2008
Date
2008
Author(s)
Ou, Heng-You
Abstract
Understanding the geographical range of species distribution and the relationship between species and environment is very important. Due to habitat loss and human hunting, the abundance of snakes, which are vulnerable to extinction, is dramatically decreasing. To understand the habitat preferences, distribution range, and conservation status of terrestrial snakes in Taiwan, I applied Ecological-Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA) to predict the spatial distribution of 37 species of snakes (82.2% of total species). A total of 8,866 presence records of snakes were gathered, and these records covered 2,360 grids, about 6.4% of total grids. In general, the results of ENFA indicated that the habitat preferences of different species were inconsistent, and the distribution was constrained mainly by elevation, southness, annual mean temperature, and coefficient of variation of 12 month’s mean temperature. Some species were also relative to human activities. Twenty-one species had higher predictive accuracy (rs ≥ 0.8), while two species (Sinonatrix percarinata suriki and Enhydris plumbea) had lower predictive accuracy (rs ≤ 0.5) due to their biological traits. In addition, snake species richness decreased with increasing elevation which followed the Rapoport-rescue hypothesis. Both the predicted hotspots of mid- and high-elevation species and those of endemic species concentrated between 1,500-2,000 m asl, and those of low-elevation species were between mountains and lowlands. The distribution pattern of predicted hotspots of protected species was different with that of species listed in the new revision of protected species. To conserve snake species in Taiwan, I suggested that the edges of mountains are more urgent than alps.
Subjects
distribution
snake
ecological modelling
macroecology
species richness
hotspots
SDGs
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