Habitat described by four PCA components.

<p>Habitat described by four PCA components.</p

Examples of cover types.

<p>a) Canopy cover from trees, low-height cover from living vegetation (grass), and ground cover from bare, rock, litter, woody debris, and small-diameter vegetation; b) low-height cover from living and dead vegetation, litter, and woody debris and ground cover from litter and woody debris; c) low-height cover from living vegetation (forb and grass) and ground cover from bare, rock, and small-diameter vegetation; d) low-height cover from vegetation, woody debris, and litter and ground cover from rock, litter, and woody debris.</p

Study site: Bubbling ponds hatchery in Yavapai County, Arizona, looking north.

<p>Active fish-rearing ponds are the nine long oval ponds to the north and east. Fallow ponds are the four vegetated blocks in the south middle. The four ponds to the southwest were drained during much of the study (June 2015 –February 2016). The pond in the far southwest was lined with black polypropylene liner and remained empty. To the south of the managed ponds are a rocky ridge covered by trees and a wet meadow. Oak Creek borders the site on the east. Inset shows general location (star) of the study site in North America.</p

Diagram of plot and transect design used to measure habitat variables.

<p>One 1-m-diameter plot and four randomly-oriented perpendicular 2.5-m transects placed with the snake/random location as the centerpoint.</p

Habitat descriptive statistics at snake points and random points across gender during the inactive season.

<p>Habitat descriptive statistics at snake points and random points across gender during the inactive season.</p

Gartersnake habitat models and percent change in selection across seasons.

<p>Gartersnake habitat models and percent change in selection across seasons.</p

Habitat characteristics.

<p>Habitat characteristics.</p

Appendix C. Correlation matrix for vegetation variables considered for the bird habitat index.

Correlation matrix for vegetation variables considered for the bird habitat index

Biplots of four habitat components generated from PCA analyses.

<p>a) C1 (cover and litter) vs. C2 (slope, forb, and bare ground cover) and b) C3 (small-diameter vegetation abundance) and C4 (distance to water). Percentages in parentheses show the amount of variation in the data accounted for by that component.</p

Influence of seasonality and gestation on habitat selection by northern Mexican gartersnakes (<i>Thamnophis eques megalops</i>)

<div><p>Species conservation requires a thorough understanding of habitat requirements. The northern Mexican gartersnake (<i>Thamnophis eques megalops</i>) was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2014. Natural resource managers are interested in understanding the ecology of this subspecies to guide management decisions and to determine what features are necessary for habitat creation and restoration. Our objective was to identify habitat selection of northern Mexican gartersnakes in a highly managed, constructed wetland hatchery. We deployed transmitters on 42 individual gartersnakes and documented use of habitat types and selection of specific habitat features. Habitat selection was similar between males and females and varied seasonally. During the active season (March–October), gartersnakes primarily selected wetland edge habitat with abundant cover. Gestating females selected similar locations but with less dense cover. During the inactive season (November–February), gartersnakes selected upland habitats, including rocky slopes with abundant vegetation. These results of this study can help inform management of the subspecies, particularly in human-influenced habitats. Conservation of this subspecies should incorporate a landscape-level approach that includes abundant wetland edge habitat with a mosaic of dense cover for protection and sparsely vegetated areas for basking connected to terrestrial uplands for overwintering.</p></div