Food habits of sympatric pitvipers from the West Gulf Coastal Plain, USA

Abstract

Widespread species that occupy multiple communities exhibit geographic variation in their natural history due to the ecological context of the local community. An animal’s food habitats are a central component to understanding its natural history and ecological role within its community—information that is critical to understanding resource needs of a species, mechanisms of species coexistence, and energy flow in food webs (Litvaitis 2000; Schalk et al. 2014). This information is also crucial for predicting the response of populations to changes in resource availability and, if necessary, inform mitigation strategies (Holycross and Mackessy 2002)

Keywords

West Gulf Coastal Plain, pitviper, eastern copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix, northern cottonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus, timber rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus, pygmy rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius, food habits, prey, ecology

Citation

Schalk, Christopher M.; Trees, Toni; Pierce, Joshua B.; Rudolph, D. Craig. 2018. Food habits of sympatric pitvipers from the West Gulf Coastal Plain, USA. Herpetological Review. 49(1): 1 5.