HABITAT USE, MOVEMENT, AND HOME RANGE OF THE SLENDER RACER (ORIENTOcOLuBER sPINALIs) ON AN ISLAND IN SOUTH KOREA

초록

Understanding the spatial ecology of a species is essential for developing successful conservation strategies. Reptiles may serve as keystone species and are critical for robust and healthy ecosystems. There is relatively sparse ecology-related information on reptiles, especially cryptic species such as serpents. In this study, we used radiotelemetry to investigate habitat use and the home ranges of the Slender Racer (Orientocoluber spinalis), a threatened snake species found on Oeyeon Island in the Republic of Korea. We radio-tracked eight O. spinalis (three females and five males) for an average of 20 d (36 relocations) from July through October 2021. Orientocoluber spinalis was mostly active during the day and was primarily observed in grasslands adjacent to forests. We observed O. spinalis most frequently in grasses (46%) and on rocks (21%) within grasslands. The estimated home range size for O. spinalis on Oeyeon Island during the non-breeding season was 1.7 ha by the Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP) method, and 1.3 ha (95% density) and 0.2 ha (50%) by the Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) method. Our results indicate that the protection of grasslands adjacent to forests is essential for the conservation of O. spinalis populations on Oeyeon Island and potentially across their northeastern Asian range.

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