{"id":{"repo_id":"texas-state","oai_identifier":"oai:digital.library.txst.edu:10877/12217"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/texas-state/oai:digital.library.txst.edu:10877/12217","repository":{"repo_id":"texas-state","name":"Texas State University","base_url":"https://digital.library.txst.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Herptile Abundance and Diversity in Response to Seasonal Burning on a Central Texas Ashe Juniper-Live Oak Savanna","abstract":"Current research on the effects of fire on herpetofauna generally has ignored the timing of a burn. I investigated the seasonal effects (summer versus winter) of prescribed burning on the herpetofaunal community of a central Texas Ashe juniper-live oak savanna. One trapping line, consisting of 1 drift fence, 2 pitfall traps and 2 funnel traps, was established on 12 treatment (6 on each burn treatment) and 6 control plots (unburned), for a total of 18 trap lines. Eighty-two individual herptiles, representing 8 snake, 3 lizard and 2 toad species were captured between April 2002 to June 2003. Herptile diversity on summer burn, winter burn and unburned plots was calculated using 4 diversity indices. Species diversity values were slightly higher on summer burn plots, while control and winter burn plots had comparable diversity values. Kruskal-Wallis ChiSquare analysis of variance did not detect a significant difference in herptile diversity among treatments and control plots (X2 = 0.66, p >0.10). However, Texas spiny lizard (Sceloporus olivaceas) was one species that did seem to respond negatively to prescribed burning. Seventy-one percent of Sceloporus captures (n = 21) occurred on control plots. This research may serve as baseline information on herptile trends in response to seasonal burning in the Ashe juniper- live oak savanna community.","abstract_html":"Current research on the effects of fire on herpetofauna generally has ignored the timing of a burn. I investigated the seasonal effects (summer versus winter) of prescribed burning on the herpetofaunal community of a central Texas Ashe juniper-live oak savanna. One trapping line, consisting of 1 drift fence, 2 pitfall traps and 2 funnel traps, was established on 12 treatment (6 on each burn treatment) and 6 control plots (unburned), for a total of 18 trap lines. Eighty-two individual herptiles, representing 8 snake, 3 lizard and 2 toad species were captured between April 2002 to June 2003. Herptile diversity on summer burn, winter burn and unburned plots was calculated using 4 diversity indices. Species diversity values were slightly higher on summer burn plots, while control and winter burn plots had comparable diversity values. Kruskal-Wallis ChiSquare analysis of variance did not detect a significant difference in herptile diversity among treatments and control plots (X2 = 0.66, p >0.10). However, Texas spiny lizard (Sceloporus olivaceas) was one species that did seem to respond negatively to prescribed burning. Seventy-one percent of Sceloporus captures (n = 21) occurred on control plots. This research may serve as baseline information on herptile trends in response to seasonal burning in the Ashe juniper- live oak savanna community.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["O'Connor, Kathleen M."],"institution":"Southwest Texas State University","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"Biology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Simpson, Thomas R."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2003,"date_issued":"2003-08","date_published":"2003-08","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:22:43Z","subjects":["prescribed burning","reptiles","savannas"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10877/12217","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Simpson, Thomas R."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["O'Connor, Kathleen M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2020-07-27T16:30:17Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-07-27T16:30:17Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2003-08"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Southwest Texas State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["prescribed burning","reptiles","savannas"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10877/12217"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Current research on the effects of fire on herpetofauna generally has ignored the timing of a burn. I investigated the seasonal effects (summer versus winter) of prescribed burning on the herpetofaunal community of a central Texas Ashe juniper-live oak savanna. One trapping line, consisting of 1 drift fence, 2 pitfall traps and 2 funnel traps, was established on 12 treatment (6 on each burn treatment) and 6 control plots (unburned), for a total of 18 trap lines. Eighty-two individual herptiles, representing 8 snake, 3 lizard and 2 toad species were captured between April 2002 to June 2003. Herptile diversity on summer burn, winter burn and unburned plots was calculated using 4 diversity indices. Species diversity values were slightly higher on summer burn plots, while control and winter burn plots had comparable diversity values. Kruskal-Wallis ChiSquare analysis of variance did not detect a significant difference in herptile diversity among treatments and control plots (X2 = 0.66, p >0.10). However, Texas spiny lizard (Sceloporus olivaceas) was one species that did seem to respond negatively to prescribed burning. Seventy-one percent of Sceloporus captures (n = 21) occurred on control plots. This research may serve as baseline information on herptile trends in response to seasonal burning in the Ashe juniper- live oak savanna community."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["Text"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["1 file (.pdf)"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Herptile Abundance and Diversity in Response to Seasonal Burning on a Central Texas Ashe Juniper-Live Oak Savanna"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Simpson, Thomas R."],"dc:creator":["O'Connor, Kathleen M."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2020-07-27T16:30:17Z"],"dc:date.available":["2020-07-27T16:30:17Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2003-08"],"dc:description.abstract":["Current research on the effects of fire on herpetofauna generally has ignored the timing of a burn. I investigated the seasonal effects (summer versus winter) of prescribed burning on the herpetofaunal community of a central Texas Ashe juniper-live oak savanna. One trapping line, consisting of 1 drift fence, 2 pitfall traps and 2 funnel traps, was established on 12 treatment (6 on each burn treatment) and 6 control plots (unburned), for a total of 18 trap lines. Eighty-two individual herptiles, representing 8 snake, 3 lizard and 2 toad species were captured between April 2002 to June 2003. Herptile diversity on summer burn, winter burn and unburned plots was calculated using 4 diversity indices. Species diversity values were slightly higher on summer burn plots, while control and winter burn plots had comparable diversity values. Kruskal-Wallis ChiSquare analysis of variance did not detect a significant difference in herptile diversity among treatments and control plots (X2 = 0.66, p >0.10). However, Texas spiny lizard (Sceloporus olivaceas) was one species that did seem to respond negatively to prescribed burning. Seventy-one percent of Sceloporus captures (n = 21) occurred on control plots. This research may serve as baseline information on herptile trends in response to seasonal burning in the Ashe juniper- live oak savanna community."],"dc:format":["Text"],"dc:format.medium":["1 file (.pdf)"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/10877/12217"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:subject":["prescribed burning","reptiles","savannas"],"dc:title":["Herptile Abundance and Diversity in Response to Seasonal Burning on a Central Texas Ashe Juniper-Live Oak Savanna"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Southwest Texas State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:22:43Z"}