Spatial Heterogeneity of Surface Topography in Peatlands: Assessing Overwintering Habitat Availability for the Eastern M
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PEATLANDS
Spatial Heterogeneity of Surface Topography in Peatlands: Assessing Overwintering Habitat Availability for the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake Chantel E. Markle 1
&
Taylor D. North 1 & Lorna I. Harris 1,2 & Paul A. Moore 1 & James M. Waddington 1
Received: 24 June 2020 / Accepted: 3 September 2020 # Society of Wetland Scientists 2020
Abstract The eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus) relies on small-scale differences in peatland surface elevation to survive harsh overwintering conditions at the northern limit of its range. We characterized the spatial heterogeneity of surface topography in peatlands within the eastern Georgian Bay rock barrens landscape of Ontario, Canada, to assess available snake overwintering habitat. At six peatlands, we used a differential global positioning system to collect surface-elevation data. We created spatiallyexplicit surface models to map peatland surface topography, quantify habitat that was likely to remain unflooded during the overwintering period, and identify key characteristics associated with greater habitat availability. While surface elevations were spatially heterogeneous within and among sites, larger peatlands were associated with greater surface spatial variability relative to the lowest elevation measured within each site. However, even peatlands with very little spatial heterogeneity (average of 0.24 m above lowest elevation), provided unflooded overwintering habitat. Inter-annual weather conditions and peatland and watershed characteristics likely control the availability and distribution of unflooded overwintering habitat. We found that trees, specifically white pine (Pinus strobus) and maple (Acer spp.), were spatially associated with higher surface elevations and could be used to identify areas of unflooded winter habitat. Our findings are useful for landscape-scale assessments of available overwintering habitat to prioritize conservation and management efforts. Keywords Peatland . Surface topography . Snake habitat . Species at risk . Sistrurus catenatus
Introduction Peatland ecosystems are considered key refugia capable of extended resistance to environmental change (Stralberg et al. 2020) and also play important roles in global atmospheric carbon sequestration (Yu 2012; Gorham 1991), global surface-water storage (Holden 2005), and maintaining local and regional biodiversity (Chapman et al. 2003). The longElectronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-020-01378-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Chantel E. Markle [email protected] 1
School of Earth, Environment and Society, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
2
Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
term stability of these ecosystem services is generally maintained by a suite of ecohydrological feedbacks (Belyea and Clymo 2001; Waddington et al. 2015), which are partially dependent on the presence and spatial distribution of hummock an
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