Assessing impacts of radiotransmitters on snakes with a focus on survivorship
| dc.contributor.author | Horne, Melanie | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-04-10T17:51:15Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-04-10T17:51:15Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2017 | en_US |
| dc.date.issued | 2017-04-10 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Radiotelemetry is a widely-used tool for studying behavior of animals. It involves the attachment of a radio transmitter to an animal, either externally or internally, allowing individuals to be located over time. A critical assumption employed when using radiotelemetry is that the transmitter has negligible impact on the animal carrying it. If transmitters do impact animals carrying them, some of our conclusions gained through telemetry research may be flawed. In my proposed study, I aimed to determine whether carrying radiotransmitters caused decreased survivorship in snakes. I analyzed the current literature and compared survivorship values for telemetered snakes, and compared them to survivorship rates of snakes without transmitters in natural, free-ranging populations. I did not find statistical difference in survivorship values for snakes with and without radiotransmitters. Similarly, I was unable to correlate survivorship in telemetry studies to any study variables (such as surgical conditions, relative mass or length of transmitter, study period, etc). Since other researchers have found impacts of transmitters on snakes, more research needs to be done to determine definitively whether or not radiotransmitters have impacts on snakes, what these impacts may be, and if these impacts are large enough to negatively impact the animal. | en_US |
| dc.description.reviewstatus | Reviewed | en_US |
| dc.description.scholarlevel | Undergraduate | en_US |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Award | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1828/7906 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.subject | Telemetry, Snakes, Survivorship, Mortality, Review | en_US |
| dc.title | Assessing impacts of radiotransmitters on snakes with a focus on survivorship | en_US |
| dc.type | Poster | en_US |