Predation on the Endangered Hungarian Meadow Viper in Pastures and Hayfields: Insights From Plasticine Models

Abstract

Management of grasslands for agriculture and other land uses is a critical issue for the conservation of grassland animals, both due to direct effects on mortality, as well as indirect effects such as altered predation regimes. In this study, we investigated the effect of mowing on the predation pressure by birds on an endangered snake, the Hungarian meadow viper (Vipera ursinii rakosiensis), using plasticine snake models. We placed 200 snake models each in mowed hayfields and grazed pastures (as controls) in two study periods, before and after mowing on hayfields, in 2021 and 2022. We found no strong negative effects of mowing on attack rates by birds in our study. Attack rates on snake models were higher before mowing than after mowing, and in general lower in the second year of the study than in 2021. However, in 2021 attack rates on snake models in pastures were higher than on hayfields, but this pattern reversed in 2022, when attacks were more frequent on hayfields than pastures. Our study highlights the importance of considering potential factors influencing predation pressure and predator-prey dynamics in grassland habitats, as well as the need for further research to provide results for evidence-based conservation management strategies to mitigate population declines and local extinction risk.