Herpetological Conservation International
Picture
ARTWORK BY RENÉ VILLANUEVA MALDONADO
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission Statement
    • The Team
    • Contact
    • PUBLICATIONS
    • Check out our FACEBOOK
  • DONATE
    • Ways To Contribute
    • Donate Via Paypal
    • Secure Online Donations
    • FUNDRAISERS >
      • Teespring Store
      • Fundraiser Auction FB Group
      • Auction Donation
  • MEMBERSHIP
    • About Membership
    • Membership Sign Up
    • Membership Login
    • Members Discounts >
      • Discount Directory
      • Vendor Discount Sign Up
  • Grants
    • The Michael Dee Grant >
      • About The Michael Dee Grant
      • Grant Recipients >
        • Maritz 2017
        • McGee 2018
        • Gatto 2019
        • Larson 2019
        • Thonis 2020
        • Weaver 2020
        • Webster 2021
        • Gross 2021
        • Adam 2022
        • Rolón 2022
        • Ripa 2023
        • Bieri 2023
      • Dee Grant Application
      • Donate To The Dee Grant >
        • Donate To The Dee Grant
        • Donate w/ Paypal
        • Donate By Credit Card
        • Donate By Mail
    • The Harold K. Voris Aquatic Snake Grant >
      • About The HKV Grant
      • Grant Recipients >
        • Lake Buhi Bockadam Project
      • HKV Grant Application
      • Donate To The HKV Grant >
        • Donate w/ Paypal
        • Donate By Credit Card
        • Donate By Mail
  • AQUATIC SNAKE BOOK
    • HARDBOUND EDITION
    • E-Book
  • PROJECTS
    • CARE: Chytrid Awareness >
      • The Campaign
      • Chytrid Information
      • sponsor
      • Property Contact
    • RUSSELL'S VIPER TELEMETRY PROJECT
    • ALL PROJECTS
  • Volunteer
  • Contact

The Lake Buhi Bockadam survey Project

FUNDED IN PART BY THE HCI HAROLD K. Voris grant

Picture
Photo by Kenneth Chin
ABOUT HOMALOPSIDAE
Rich in diversity around the world, snakes play a vital role in their respective ecosystems by controlling predator and prey population levels. In particular, the large number of aquatic snake species represent a fascinating system that showcases the successful adaptation of snakes to aquatic habitats. Many families of snakes have adapted to marine, riverine, or lake systems, with homalopsid snakes (‘mud snakes’) being one of the most abundant groups found through South and Southeast Asia, and northern Australasia. Only recently have large-scale studies of homalopsid snakes been conducted, aiming to identify the biogeographic correlates to their evolutionary success and current diversity. However, many species, especially narrowly distributed taxa, remain to be studied, and their natural history, behavior, diets, and roles they play in their restricted ecosystems are unknown.

PicturePhoto by Justin Bernstein
THE LAKE BUHI BOCKADAM
​(Cerberus microlepis)

The Philippines is home to over 140 species of snakes, many of which are endemic. The homalopsid snake, Cerberus microlepis, is an endangered species with one of the smallest geographic distributions of any reptile in the world, restricted to the freshwater Lake Buhi (area = ~6.6 km2) in the province of Camarines Sur on Luzon Island. Lake Buhi, and the river systems it is connected to, contain a variety of fish populations (prey) and suitable habitat for C. microlepis, but investigations into the extent C. microlepis migrates out of the lake is unknown, as is how river systems play a role in the sustainability of this species’ population levels. Thus, it is critical to determine if the lake endemic C. microlepis are leaving the Lake Buhi and if there is gene flow, which is vital for populations to be more resistant to environmental change, with populations of Cerberus in the adjacent rivers.


PicturePhoto by Justin Bernstein
THE PROJECT
In this project, a collaborative effort with those from the United States and the Philippines, we aim to (i) identify the true distribution of C. microlepis both in and out of the lake, (ii) investigate their evolutionary relationships, and (iii) assess the levels of gene flow between populations in and outside of the lake using genome-scale DNA sequence data and quantitative landscape (riverscape) genomic analyses. While river systems are often thought of as barriers to gene flow between populations, they can act as highways of migration and gene flow for aquatic populations. To understand the importance of not just Lake Buhi, but also the surrounding rivers, to the stability of C. microlepis, as well as how Cerberus populations help sustain the ecologically and economically valuable fish populations in this region, these first steps of disentangling the relationships of the geographic landscape and population genomics are of utmost value.


Picture
THE MANDATE
The IUCN Red Data index lists Cerberus microlepis as endangered and decreasing due to logging, wood harvesting, fishing, and use as a human resource as well as pollution threats from urban and domestic waste water. Their direct guidance for conservation is, "This is a very poorly known species, and further studies on its ecology, abundance, and range are urgently needed.

​There have been no detailed studies on this species since the early 1990s. Therefore,   Herpetological Conservation International has decided to award the first Harold K. Voris Grant to Justin Bernstein.


THE TEAM
Led by Dr. Justin M. Bernstein, this project's team is comprised of an international collaboration between several institutions in the United States and the Philippines.
Dr. Justin M. Bernstein
University of Kansas Center for Genomics
Kansas, USA
Dr. Michael Clores
Partido State University
Camarines Sur, Philippines
Dr. Sara Ruane
Field Museum of Natural History
Illinois, USA
Dr. Michael Cuesta 
Ateneo de Naga University
Camarines Sur, Philippines
Mr. Joward Bautista
Partido State University
Camarines Sur, Philippines
Dr. Marites Bonachita Sanguila
Father Saturnino Urios University
​Agusan del Norte, Philippines
Dr. Rafe M. Brown
University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum 
​Kansas, USA

RESULTS AND PUBLICATIONS

​Bernstein Justin M.
, Bautista Joward B., Clores Michael A., Brown Rafe M., Ruane Sara, Sanguila Marites B., Alis-Besenio Mary Grace Joyce, Pejo Cory Lyn F. and Cuesta Michael A. 2024. Using mangrove and field observation data to identify fine-scale species distributions: a case study in bockadams (Serpentes: Homalopsidae: Cerberus) R. Soc. Open Sci. 11240483
http://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240483

​Herpetological Conservation International 
HCI IS A NON-PROFIT 501(C)3​
TAX ID EIN: 47-1633701 

Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law in your country.

MAILING ADDRESS:
Herpetological Conservation International 
57556 29 Palms Hwy #467,
Yucca Valley, CA, United States, 92284

Picture
Picture
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission Statement
    • The Team
    • Contact
    • PUBLICATIONS
    • Check out our FACEBOOK
  • DONATE
    • Ways To Contribute
    • Donate Via Paypal
    • Secure Online Donations
    • FUNDRAISERS >
      • Teespring Store
      • Fundraiser Auction FB Group
      • Auction Donation
  • MEMBERSHIP
    • About Membership
    • Membership Sign Up
    • Membership Login
    • Members Discounts >
      • Discount Directory
      • Vendor Discount Sign Up
  • Grants
    • The Michael Dee Grant >
      • About The Michael Dee Grant
      • Grant Recipients >
        • Maritz 2017
        • McGee 2018
        • Gatto 2019
        • Larson 2019
        • Thonis 2020
        • Weaver 2020
        • Webster 2021
        • Gross 2021
        • Adam 2022
        • Rolón 2022
        • Ripa 2023
        • Bieri 2023
      • Dee Grant Application
      • Donate To The Dee Grant >
        • Donate To The Dee Grant
        • Donate w/ Paypal
        • Donate By Credit Card
        • Donate By Mail
    • The Harold K. Voris Aquatic Snake Grant >
      • About The HKV Grant
      • Grant Recipients >
        • Lake Buhi Bockadam Project
      • HKV Grant Application
      • Donate To The HKV Grant >
        • Donate w/ Paypal
        • Donate By Credit Card
        • Donate By Mail
  • AQUATIC SNAKE BOOK
    • HARDBOUND EDITION
    • E-Book
  • PROJECTS
    • CARE: Chytrid Awareness >
      • The Campaign
      • Chytrid Information
      • sponsor
      • Property Contact
    • RUSSELL'S VIPER TELEMETRY PROJECT
    • ALL PROJECTS
  • Volunteer
  • Contact