Name
Ecohydrological controls on the resilience of snake overwintering habitat: Implications for climate change
Description
Many Canadian reptiles and amphibians seek refuge from harsh Canadian winters in peatlands that provide suitable overwintering conditions. In peatland ecosystems, semi-aquatic snakes such as the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus) frequently use raised peat hummocks as hibernacula because they have great insulating and moisture retention properties. However, climate change threatens the persistence of suitable overwintering conditions in these hummock hibernacula due to increasingly variable winter temperatures that drive major freeze-thaw events and water table fluctuations. To explore the spatiotemporal availability of suitable overwintering conditions, we have instrumented hummocks in ten peatlands distributed along a 60 km stretch of the eastern Georgian Bay region for five winters (2019–2024) to measure hummock temperature, water table position, snow depth, and micrometeorological conditions. We have also collected ecohydrological characteristics at hummock, wetland and watershed scales to identify features linked to resilient overwintering habitat. This presentation will discuss the outlook of suitable overwintering habitat availability under climate change as well as metrics that conservation practitioners can use for assessing the suitability and resilience of overwintering habitat.