Canopy removal restores habitat quality for an endangered snake in a fire suppressed landscape

Published source details Webb J.K., Shine R. & Pringle R.M. (2005) Canopy removal restores habitat quality for an endangered snake in a fire suppressed landscape. Copeia, 894-900.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Manage vegetation by cutting or mowing Action Link

Manage vegetation by cutting or mowing

A replicated, randomized, controlled study in 2002–2003 of rock outcrops on a sandstone plateau in New South Wales, Australia (Webb et al. 2005) found that after removing overhanging canopy, reptiles used unshaded rocks more often in winter, but not in spring, than shaded rocks. After canopy removal, reptile use of unshaded rocks was similar to shaded rocks in spring (unshaded: 38% of rocks used, shaded: 12%) but higher in winter (unshaded: 88%, shaded: 0%). Two broad-headed snakes Hoplocephalus bungaroides, four Lesueur’s velvet gecko Oedura lesueurii, and one red-throated skink Acritoscincus platynotum were recorded under unshaded rocks and one Lesueur’s velvet gecko under a shaded rock. In May 2002, sixteen rocks in three sites shaded by emerging shrubs and saplings were managed either by increasing canopy openness by 15% (‘unshaded’) or unmanaged (‘shaded’, 8 rocks/management type). Reptiles were sampled in June and August 2003 by searching under rocks and individually marking captured reptiles.

(Summarised by: Maggie Watson, Katie Sainsbury)