The importance of “unattractive” snakes

Conservation efforts are generally targeted towards “attractive” animals because the general public is more concerned with “cute” animals going extinct. These flagship species are generally large mammals used as an icon of conservation organizations, and are considered to be charismatic to the general public. Research studies have revealed that the majority of conservation fundraising and research focusses on flagship species, mainly large mammal species; whereas, little to no attention was given to the non-flagship reptiles and amphibians (Joseph et al. 2011; Smith et al. 2012). This means that the vast majority of the public are more willing to donate money to save the endangered pandas, but no one really cares about snakes. 
Unfortunately, flagship species only represent a small portion of all the currently listed endangered species (Joseph et al. 2011; Smith et al. 2012). Oftentimes, conservation efforts made on non-flagship species rely on flagship species fundings; however, Benett et al. (2015) found that this allocated funding was small and inefficient for most non-flagship species.

(Photo source: http://www.wall-pix.net/entertainment-cartoons-comics/00005083.jpg.html)

In Ontario snakes are considered unappealing due to misconceptions that they are dangerous, even venomous. At the same time a number of Ontario snake species are at risk, with many falling onto threatened or endangered species lists (Environmental Canada 2015). Unfortunately, Ontario residents are generally uninformed and unwilling to help in the conservation of these species due to their aversion to snakes. This can sometimes compound the threats facing snakes in Ontario, for example in the instance of (intentional) road kill. In a Harris Poll conducted by Taylor (1999), ophidiophobia, the abnormal fear of snakes, was reported to be the most common fear shown in adults. Perhaps this fear of snakes has led to the status and crisis of snakes species.

As mentioned in Did you know that some snakes are threatened and endangered in Ontario?, snakes are actually of huge importance in our ecosystems. Snakes and many other non-flagship species also need public attention in conservation. Unfortunately, most of the time we are unaware of the fact that our daily actions could potentially threaten these endangered species.

Importance of conserving and studying snakes

Apart from the important roles snakes play in our ecosystem, scientists study snakes for various reasons in hope to accentuate the many positive aspects of snake biology. Snakes are a common model organism for studying the ecological effects of human infrastructure, such as road mortality (e.g. Shepard et al. 2008; Garrah et al. 2015), and habitat fragmentation (e.g. Robson and Blouin-Demers, 2013). These results contributed to our understanding of snakes habitat preference and their energetic adaptation to human-induced changes.

Snakes are also studied as an indicator species of the health of terrestrial ecosystem (Lillywhite 2010). Snakes are commonly used indicators of environmental contamination and pollution by pesticides, herbicides, insecticides residues (e.g. Stafford et al. 1976; Burger et al. 2004; Burger et al. 2007). Bioindicators exhibit changes in response to different stressors in the environment and the effects are relatively easy to measure for scientists. Long-lived snakes serve as a great bioindicator because they are top predators and show varied levels of accumulation of metal contaminants in blood, muscle, liver and skin (Burger et al. 2004; Burger et al. 2007).

Ectothermic snakes are also widely utilized to assess the effect of climate change on reptiles and amphibians. Even though certain degrees of plasticity were shown in young snakes adjusting their thermoregulatory behaviour, decreased fitness including decreased growth rate in cold-raised young, less locomotion, and less anti-predator responses were observed due to the lack of thermal plasticity in elder snakes (Aubret and Shine 2009). This study suggested that climate change would significantly affect the mean selected body temperatures because of a mismatch between thermoregulatory tactics and the ambient temperature (Aubret and Shine 2009). More on this: Climate change and potential threats on snakes.

References:

  

Aubret, F., and R. Shine. (2009). Thermal plasticity in young snakes: how will climate change affect the thermoregulatory tactics of ectotherms? The Journal of Experimental Biology 213: 242-248.

Burger, J., K. R. Campbell., T. S. Campbell., T. Shukla., C. Jeitner., and M. Gochfeld. (2004). Use of skin and blood as nonlethal indicators of heavy metal contamination in northern water snakes (Nerodia sipedon). Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 49: 232-238.

Burger, J., K. R. Campbell., S. Murray., T. S. Campbell., K. F. Gaines., C. Jeitner., T. Shukla., S. Burke., M. Gochfeld. (2007). Metal levels in blood, muscle and liver of water snakes (Nerodia spp.) from New Jersey, Tennessee and South Carolina. Science of the Total Environment 373: 556-563.

Environmental Canada. (2015). Species at risk list in Ontario.

https://www.ontario.ca/environment-and-energy/species-risk-ontario-list

Joseph, L. N., Maloney, R. F., Watson, J. E.M. and Possingham, H. P. (2011). Securing nonflagship species from extinction. Conservation Letters, 4: 324–325.

Lillywhite, H. B. (2010). Focus on snake conservation. Snakes: Ecology and Conservation. Bioscience 40(4): 315-317.

Smith, R.J., Verissimo, D., Isaac, N.J.B., & Jones, K.E. (2012). Identifying Cinderella species: Uncovering mammals with conservation flagship appeal. Conservation Letters 5: 205-212.

Taylor, H. (1999). What we are afraid of. The Harris Poll #49, August 18.

http://media.theharrispoll.com/documents/Harris-Interactive-Poll-Research-WHAT-WE-ARE-AFRAID-OF-1999-08.pdf

Robson, L. E., and G. Blouin-Demers. (2013). Eastern Hognose Snakes (Herodon platirhinos) avoid crossing paved roads, but not unpaved roads. Copeia 3: 507-511.