Slow life history leaves endangered snake vulnerable to illegal collecting

Abstract Global wildlife trade is a multibillion-dollar industry and a significant driver of vertebrate extinction risk. Yet, few studies have quantified the impact of wild harvesting for the illicit pet trade on populations. Long-lived species, by virtue of their slow life history characteristics,...

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Autores principales:	Chris J. Jolly, Brenton Von Takach, Jonathan K. Webb
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/3ec524be297a413eb3d20507ae20b466
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:3ec524be297a413eb3d20507ae20b4662021-12-02T13:33:51ZSlow life history leaves endangered snake vulnerable to illegal collecting10.1038/s41598-021-84745-12045-2322https://doaj.org/article/3ec524be297a413eb3d20507ae20b4662021-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84745-1https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Global wildlife trade is a multibillion-dollar industry and a significant driver of vertebrate extinction risk. Yet, few studies have quantified the impact of wild harvesting for the illicit pet trade on populations. Long-lived species, by virtue of their slow life history characteristics, may be unable to sustain even low levels of collecting. Here, we assessed the impact of illegal collecting on populations of endangered broad-headed snakes (Hoplocephalus bungaroides) at gated (protected) and ungated (unprotected) sites. Because broad-headed snakes are long-lived, grow slowly and reproduce infrequently, populations are likely vulnerable to increases in adult mortality. Long-term data revealed that annual survival rates of snakes were significantly lower in the ungated population than the gated population, consistent with the hypothesis of human removal of snakes for the pet trade. Population viability analysis showed that the ungated population has a strongly negative population growth rate and is only prevented from ultimate extinction by dispersal of small numbers of individuals from the gated population. Sensitivity analyses showed that the removal of a small number of adult females was sufficient to impose negative population growth and suggests that threatened species with slow life histories are likely to be especially vulnerable to illegal collecting.Chris J. JollyBrenton Von TakachJonathan K. WebbNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Chris J. Jolly Brenton Von Takach Jonathan K. Webb Slow life history leaves endangered snake vulnerable to illegal collecting
description	Abstract Global wildlife trade is a multibillion-dollar industry and a significant driver of vertebrate extinction risk. Yet, few studies have quantified the impact of wild harvesting for the illicit pet trade on populations. Long-lived species, by virtue of their slow life history characteristics, may be unable to sustain even low levels of collecting. Here, we assessed the impact of illegal collecting on populations of endangered broad-headed snakes (Hoplocephalus bungaroides) at gated (protected) and ungated (unprotected) sites. Because broad-headed snakes are long-lived, grow slowly and reproduce infrequently, populations are likely vulnerable to increases in adult mortality. Long-term data revealed that annual survival rates of snakes were significantly lower in the ungated population than the gated population, consistent with the hypothesis of human removal of snakes for the pet trade. Population viability analysis showed that the ungated population has a strongly negative population growth rate and is only prevented from ultimate extinction by dispersal of small numbers of individuals from the gated population. Sensitivity analyses showed that the removal of a small number of adult females was sufficient to impose negative population growth and suggests that threatened species with slow life histories are likely to be especially vulnerable to illegal collecting.
format	article
author	Chris J. Jolly Brenton Von Takach Jonathan K. Webb
author_facet	Chris J. Jolly Brenton Von Takach Jonathan K. Webb
author_sort	Chris J. Jolly
title	Slow life history leaves endangered snake vulnerable to illegal collecting
title_short	Slow life history leaves endangered snake vulnerable to illegal collecting
title_full	Slow life history leaves endangered snake vulnerable to illegal collecting
title_fullStr	Slow life history leaves endangered snake vulnerable to illegal collecting
title_full_unstemmed	Slow life history leaves endangered snake vulnerable to illegal collecting
title_sort	slow life history leaves endangered snake vulnerable to illegal collecting
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/3ec524be297a413eb3d20507ae20b466
work_keys_str_mv	AT chrisjjolly slowlifehistoryleavesendangeredsnakevulnerabletoillegalcollecting AT brentonvontakach slowlifehistoryleavesendangeredsnakevulnerabletoillegalcollecting AT jonathankwebb slowlifehistoryleavesendangeredsnakevulnerabletoillegalcollecting
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Slow life history leaves endangered snake vulnerable to illegal collecting

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