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23 May 2020 Habitat Assessment of the Broad-Headed Skink (Plestiodon laticeps) and the Associated Squamate Community in Eastern Kansas
Allison Hullinger, Zackary Cordes, Daren Riedle, William Stark
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

During the summers of 2015-2017, we performed standardized surveys across the known range of the Broad-headed Skink in eastern Kansas. We used a combination of drift fence arrays with funnel traps and visual encounter surveys (VES) to collect occurrence data on the Broad-headed Skink. A Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was used to determine which habitat variables explained the variation observed in the squamate assemblage. The position of the Broad-headed Skink was explained by average log length and overstory tree size. A secondary analysis implies the Broad-headed Skink is also associated with presence of Black Walnut (Juglans nigra). A logistic regression was used to determine which habitat variables were significant in predicting presence of the Broad-headed Skink. The variables from the most successful model included average log length, overstory tree size, understory tree dispersion, and overstory tree dispersion. These habitat attributes suggest the Broad-headed Skink prefers mature patches of forest, and habitat structure rather than tree species composition is more useful in predicting Broad-headed Skink presence.

Allison Hullinger, Zackary Cordes, Daren Riedle, and William Stark "Habitat Assessment of the Broad-Headed Skink (Plestiodon laticeps) and the Associated Squamate Community in Eastern Kansas," Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 123(1-2), 137-150, (23 May 2020). https://doi.org/10.1660/062.123.0111
Published: 23 May 2020
KEYWORDS
Broad-headed Skink
Critical habitat
herpetofauna
Plestiodon laticeps
squamate
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