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<p>Forested wetland remnants, including giant cane (<i>Arundinaria gigantea</i>) patches, or “canebrakes”, provide vegetation cover and habitat structure within agriculture-dominated landscapes of the Lower Mississippi River Valley. Although anecdotal accounts suggest high wildlife diversity in canebrakes, herpetofauna in these habitats remain poorly studied. We conducted time-constrained visual surveys of herpetofauna from April– June 2022–2023 at 32 pairs of canebrake/non-canebrake sites in southwestern Illinois, USA. We examined differences in herpetofauna diversity and community structure between canebrakes and non-canebrakes using Wilcoxon rank-sum tests and non-metric multidimensional scaling. We assessed the occupancy of herpetofauna using community occupancy models. We detected 17 herpetofauna species in canebrakes, 16 of which had not been previously reported in canebrakes. We observed no difference in richness, abundance, diversity, and assemblages of herpetofauna between canebrakes and non-canebrakes (<i>p</i> &gt; 0.05). Reptile occupancy was higher in denser, larger, and shorter canebrakes, while amphibian occupancy was higher in denser, smaller, and taller canebrakes. Reptiles occupied open canopy areas that facilitated thermoregulation activities, while amphibians occupied areas with high tree density that better retained moisture. Remnant canebrake structure (sparse) and distribution (fragmented) might explain the lack of strong influence of canebrake presence on herpetofauna communities. Given that many herpetofauna species were observed in canebrakes, re-establishment of dense, contiguous stands of canebrakes may improve quality of wetland landscape as wildlife habitat. In addition, maintaining habitat heterogeneity and managing vegetation diversity in wetlands are important for herpetofauna conservation.</p>

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Influences of Landscape and Vegetation Structures on Herpetofauna Communities in Canebrakes and Associated Floodplain Forests

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年9月12日

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  • Thanchira Suriyamongkol,
  • Brent S. Pease,
  • James J. Zaczek,
  • Jon E. Schoonover,
  • Clayton K. Nielsen,
  • John W. Groninger

摘要

Forested wetland remnants, including giant cane (Arundinaria gigantea) patches, or “canebrakes”, provide vegetation cover and habitat structure within agriculture-dominated landscapes of the Lower Mississippi River Valley. Although anecdotal accounts suggest high wildlife diversity in canebrakes, herpetofauna in these habitats remain poorly studied. We conducted time-constrained visual surveys of herpetofauna from April– June 2022–2023 at 32 pairs of canebrake/non-canebrake sites in southwestern Illinois, USA. We examined differences in herpetofauna diversity and community structure between canebrakes and non-canebrakes using Wilcoxon rank-sum tests and non-metric multidimensional scaling. We assessed the occupancy of herpetofauna using community occupancy models. We detected 17 herpetofauna species in canebrakes, 16 of which had not been previously reported in canebrakes. We observed no difference in richness, abundance, diversity, and assemblages of herpetofauna between canebrakes and non-canebrakes (p > 0.05). Reptile occupancy was higher in denser, larger, and shorter canebrakes, while amphibian occupancy was higher in denser, smaller, and taller canebrakes. Reptiles occupied open canopy areas that facilitated thermoregulation activities, while amphibians occupied areas with high tree density that better retained moisture. Remnant canebrake structure (sparse) and distribution (fragmented) might explain the lack of strong influence of canebrake presence on herpetofauna communities. Given that many herpetofauna species were observed in canebrakes, re-establishment of dense, contiguous stands of canebrakes may improve quality of wetland landscape as wildlife habitat. In addition, maintaining habitat heterogeneity and managing vegetation diversity in wetlands are important for herpetofauna conservation.