My thesis defense in 2007; it has changed since then.

1. SNAKE COMMUNITY ECOLOGY WITHIN THE FLINT HILLS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE By: Bryan Maher Emporia State University, Department of Biological Sciences, 1200 Commercial Street, Emporia, KS 66801

2. Chapter 1: Snake Assemblage Related to the Vegetation Structure on Native Prairies

9. Drift Fence Arrays Within Each Site

12. • Biomark PIT tags inserted on left lateral, about 5 cm from cloaca • Scale-clipped ventral scales on juvenile snakes • Pocket Reader to identify unique number codes

16. Total number of unique individuals by species captured at the Blackbird, Fitch Hill, Garner Lane, and Slead sites from June 2004 to November 2004 at FHNWR, Kansas. 221 54 33 39 95 Total 101 19 17 17 48 Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis 39 12 2 2 23 Thamnophis proximus 2 1 0 0 1 Thamnophis radix 0 0 0 0 0 Storeria dekayi texana 3 0 1 2 0 Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus 0 0 0 0 0 Nerodia r. rhombifer 4 0 1 0 3 Nerodia e. transversa 0 0 0 0 0 Lampropeltis g.holbrooki 2 1 0 0 1 Lampropeltis c. calligaster 8 3 2 2 1 Elaphe o. obsoleta 1 1 0 0 0 Diadophis punctatus arnyi 59 15 10 16 18 Coluber constrictor flaviventris 2 2 0 0 0 Agkistrodon contortrix Total Slead Garner Fitch Blackbird Species

17. Total number of unique individuals by species captured at the Blackbird, Fitch Hill, Garner Lane, and Slead sites from April 2005 to November 2005 at FHNWR, Kansas. 179 70 29 24 56 Total 73 35 9 8 21 Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis 17 3 2 4 8 Thamnophis proximus 1 1 0 0 0 Thamnophis radix 1 0 0 0 1 Storeria dekayi texana 3 0 2 1 0 Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus 1 0 0 0 1 Nerodia r. rhombifer 1 1 0 0 0 Nerodia e. transversa 1 1 0 0 0 Lampropeltis g.holbrooki 1 1 0 0 0 Lampropeltis c. calligaster 3 1 1 0 1 Elaphe o. obsoleta 0 0 0 0 0 Diadophis punctatus arnyi 72 22 15 11 24 Coluber constrictor flaviventris 5 5 0 0 0 Agkistrodon contortrix Total Slead Garner Fitch Blackbird Species

18. Total number of unique individuals captured each month from June 2004 to November 2005 for Yellow-bellied Racers, Red-sided Gartersnakes, and Western Ribbonsnakes within the Blackbird, Slead, Fitch Hill, and Garner Lane sites at FHNWR, Kansas.

19. Total number of unique individuals captured from June 2004 to November 2005 for Massasauga Rattlesnakes and Osage Copperheads within the Blackbird, Slead, Fitch Hill, and Garner Lane sites at FHNWR, Kansas.

20. LNMDS depicting the clustering affect of similar communities on each array for all sites from June 2004 to November 2004 at FHNWR, Kansas.

21. LNMDS depicting the clustering affect of similar communities on each array for all sites from April 2005 to November 2005 at FHNWR, Kansas.

22. LNMDS depicting the clustering affect of similar communities on each array for all sites from June 2004 to November 2005 at FHNWR, Kansas.

24. Paired T-test indicating significant differences in grass cover from June 2004 to November 2005 on several sites at FHNWR, Kansas. 0.7826 0.285 8 0.0230 Blackbird 0.0334 -2.564 8 0.0232 Slead 0.0042 3.962 8 0.0219 Garner Lane 0.0189 2.931 8 0.0156 Fitch Hill P-value t Stat df Variance Site

25. Paired T-test indicating significant differences in forb cover from June 2004 to November 2005 on several sites at FHNWR, Kansas. 0.716 0.377 8 0.0198 Garner Lane 0.016 -3.039 8 0.0043 Blackbird 0.012 3.231 8 0.3833 Slead 0.035 2.525 8 0.0148 Fitch Hill P-value t Stat df Variance Site

26. LNMDS of Bray-Curtis dissimilarities depicting changes in the vegetation composition from June 2004 to November 2004 at the FHNWR, Kansas.

32. Chapter 2: Abundance Patterns for Coluber constrictor flaviventris , Thamnophis proximus , and Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis at the Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge

41. Fisher’s Least-Significant-Difference Test with pairwise comparison probabilities 1.000000 0.113227 0.092513 0.322731 Slead 1.000000 0.898448 0.022073 Garner Lane 1.000000 0.018036 Fitch Hill 1.000000 Blackbird Slead Garner Lane Fitch Hill Blackbird Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis

42. Fisher’s Least-Significant-Difference Test with pairwise comparison probabilities 1.000000 0.120181 0.120181 0.370555 Slead 1.000000 1.000000 0.027585 Garner Lane 1.000000 0.027585 Fitch Hill 1.000000 Blackbird Slead Garner Lane Fitch Hill Blackbird Coluber constrictor flaviventris

43. Fisher’s Least-Significant-Difference Test with pairwise comparison probabilities 1.000000 0.018308 0.039207 0.006106 Slead 1.000000 0.635687 0.000161 Garner Lane 1.000000 0.000273 Fitch Hill 1.000000 Blackbird Slead Garner Lane Fitch Hill Blackbird Thamnophis proximus

44. Least Squares Means from Collapsed ANOVA analysis indicating a similar abundance pattern for three snake species and one amphibian species at the FHNWR, Kansas. T. proximus C. c. flaviventris T. s. parietalis