FIRE EFFECTS AND USE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Drymarchon corais | Indigo Snake 



DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS : 
Because hatchlings do not use tortoise burrows they may be susceptible
to fire mortality.  However, adult snakes may be able to escape fires
while in their burrows [10].


HABITAT RELATED FIRE EFFECTS : 
Fire exclusion in southern pine-scrub oak habitats is a major cause of
habitat degredation for gopher tortoise and, therefore, indigo snakes
[6].  The absence of fire allows oaks to mature and leaf litter to
accumulate, making burrow digging difficult and herbaceous food scarce.
Studies of herpetofauna in Florida sandhill commmunities showed higher
species diversity in young sand pine (Pinus clausa)-scrub oak habitats,
which are maintained by frequent fire [7].  Experimental burns in these
communities showed snakes used plots burned at 2- and 7-year intervals
more than plots left unburned or burned yearly.  The effects of
different season burns on gopher tortoises in Ocala National Forest,
Florida, showed more burrows in July-burned areas than in
February-burned areas at the first postfire year [8].  Preburn densities
of gopher tortoise were not determined.


FIRE USE : 
Landers and Speake [6] recommend burning indigo snake habitats every 2
years to maintain a young, open overstory and an abundant herbaceous
understory.  This will provide good gopher tortoise habitat, which in
turn will provide burrows for snakes.  Burning sandhill communities
every 2 to 4 years will maintain open longleaf pine stands with
understories of wiregrass (Aristida stricta) and turkey oak [6].
Burning in late summer where young indigo snakes have been released from
captive breeding programs is not recommended because young snakes depend
on dense herbaceous vegetation for cover instead of burrows [10].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Drymarchon corais | Indigo Snake