Upstream dam passage and use of an eel ladder by the common watersnake (Nerodia sipedon)
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Published source details
Welsh S.A. & Loughman Z.J. (2015) Upstream dam passage and use of an eel ladder by the common watersnake (Nerodia sipedon). Herpetological Review, 46, 176-179.
Published source details Welsh S.A. & Loughman Z.J. (2015) Upstream dam passage and use of an eel ladder by the common watersnake (Nerodia sipedon). Herpetological Review, 46, 176-179.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Modify dams or water impoundments to enable wildlife movements Action Link |
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Modify dams or water impoundments to enable wildlife movements
A study in 2007–2014 on a river in West Virginia, USA (Welsh & Loughman 2015) found that an eel ladder was used by common watersnakes Nerodia sipedon in five of eight years of monitoring. The ladder was used by common watersnakes (1–5 individuals/year) in five of eight years that the ladder was monitored. A stainless steel fish ladder (11 m long, 13 cm deep and 41 cm wide with a 50° slope containing a suitable substrate for climbing, see original paper for details), designed to facilitate the upstream passage of the snake-like movements of American eels Anguilla rostrata, was installed from late spring (May–July) to autumn (October–November) in 2007–2014 (106–188 days/year). Numbers of snakes (and eels) were monitored by live catching or photographs when they reached the upstream end of the ladder.
(Summarised by: Katie Sainsbury)
