Snake diversity, occupancy, and detection on Thailand's largest university campus

More than 240 species of snake have been described from Thailand, yet basic natural history and ecology for this group of animals remains scarce in human disturbed environments despite conservation and human medical significance of them in these habitats. We studied snake diversity at Walailak University from March to December 2023, the largest university campus in Thailand (1525 hectares) through standardized walking surveys, opportunistic notifications and observation, road surveys, and traps and evaluated diversity using the Shannon diversity index (<i>H</i>), Pielou's evenness of species (<i>J</i>), detection probabilities (<i>p</i>), and occupancy probabilities (ψ). We observed 195 snakes (21 species, 7 families) at Walailak University and overall snake diversity (<i>H</i> = 2.60) and evenness (<i>J</i> = 0.85) were quite high, although specific site diversity (range <i>H</i> = 0-1.94) and evenness (range <i>J</i> = 0.67-0.91) within the university were variable. The probability of detecting snakes (range <i>p</i> = .10-.40) increased with increasing humidity and decreased with increasing amount of rain, temperature, and wind; site occupancy probability decreased with increased canopy height and increased with increased distance to buildings, increased canopy height loss, increased distance to roads, and increased distance to water. Our findings of relatively high snake diversity, presence of snake species potentially dangerous to humans (six species), and protected snake species (Thailand WARPA and international CITES, five species) suggest significant potential for conservation and further research at Walailak University and other campuses in Thailand.