Venomous Snake Abundance Within Snake Species’ Assemblages Worldwide

Luiselli, Luca; Sale, Leonardo; Akani, Godfrey C.; Amori, Giovanni

doi:10.3390/d12020069

Cited by 17 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Snakebite incidence varies on a geographical and temporal scale, resulting from the interaction of anthropic ( Harrison et al, 2009 ; Mise et al, 2016 ) and environmental ( Chaves et al, 2015 , Ferreira et al, 2020 ) drivers. Using a meta-analysis approach, Luiselli et al (2020) found no difference in the proportion of venomous snake species richness or abundance between tropical and temperate snake assemblages, and, conversely, not all poor rural populations are affected. Higher snakebite incidence observed in many tropical regions is therefore not simply a function of higher snake relative abundance or diversity or high rates of rural poverty, but rather the product of a range of factors acting at the local scale.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Promoting co-existence between humans and venomous snakes through increasing the herpetological knowledge base

et al. 2021

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Snakebite incidence at least partly depends on the biology of the snakes involved. However, studies of snake biology have been largely neglected in favour of anthropic factors, with the exception of taxonomy, which has been recognised for some decades to affect the design of antivenoms. Despite this, within-species venom variation and the unpredictability of the correlation with antivenom cross-reactivity has continued to be problematic. Meanwhile, other aspects of snake biology, including behaviour, spatial ecology and activity patterns, distribution, and population demography, which can contribute to snakebite mitigation and prevention, remain underfunded and understudied. Here, we review the literature relevant to these aspects of snakebite and illustrate how demographic, spatial, and behavioural studies can improve our understanding of why snakebites occur and provide evidence for prevention strategies. We identify the large gaps that remain to be filled and urge that, in the future, data and relevant metadata be shared openly via public data repositories so that studies can be properly replicated and data used in future meta-analyses.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Promoting co-existence between humans and venomous snakes through increasing the herpetological knowledge base

et al. 2021

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“…( Gloydius himalayanus ) ( Warrell, 2003 ) or below 43° south ( Bothrops ammodytoides ) ( Carrasco et al, 2010 ). These characteristics of snake biodiversity result in high snakebite envenoming incidence in the warm tropics ( Yañez-Arenas et al, 2014 ), again as a result of higher venomous snake abundance ( Luiselli et al, 2020 ). Also, snakebite envenoming incidence is higher in the tropics because high climatic suitability allows snake populations to grow faster and achieve higher population densities ( Holt, 2020 ; Osorio-Olvera et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Distributional Ecology Of Venomous Snakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other, many snake species seem to be less sensitive to habitat-related anthropogenic disturbances in comparison to other species ( Suazo-Ortuño et al, 2008 ), probably because snakes have biological traits that make them less prone to extinction, such as larger clutches at larger body sizes compared to mammals because snake offspring size does not increase in proportion to size at reproductive maturity ( Reed, 2003 ). The snake species most affected by human activities and land use change have relatively narrow geographical distributions, feed on vertebrates (as opposed to molluscs or arthropods), and are aquatic ( Luiselli et al, 2020 ; Todd et al, 2017 ). Also, there is little evidence that the negative public perception of venomous snakes is a widespread extinction risk factor ( Todd et al, 2017 ), even though active persecution can in fact decrease snake populations ( Means, 2009 ).…”

Section: Distributional Ecology Of Venomous Snakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies suggest that snakes collapse following loss of amphibians, one of their common vertebrate prey ( Zipkin et al, 2020 ), which coincides with the identified snake extinction risk factors ( Todd et al, 2017 ). Also, snakebite envenoming burden is higher in biodiversity hotspots, which are known to harbor larger snake populations ( Luiselli et al, 2020 ). However, some species might manage to persist and thrive in biologically impoverished environments, such as agricultural lands probably due to prey abundance ( Suazo-Ortuño et al, 2008 ).…”

Section: Eco-epidemiology Of Snakebitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, flooding events are widely considered a primary driver of snakebite risk as they wash snakes towards lowlands which usually have higher population density ( Ochoa et al, 2020 ). On the other hand, the positive effect of temperature on snakebites may be related to overall diversity ( Luiselli et al, 2020 ). It is therefore possible that global warming is changing seasonal patterns of bites according to local snake species’ biology ( Chaves et al, 2015 ) and other human-related factors such as agricultural practices (see below).…”

Section: Eco-epidemiology Of Snakebitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Implications of global environmental change for the burden of snakebite

et al. 2021

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Snakebite envenoming is a set of intoxication diseases that disproportionately affect people of poor socioeconomic backgrounds in tropical countries. As it is highly dependent on the environment its burden is expected to shift spatially with global anthropogenic environmental (climate, land use) and demographic change. The mechanisms underlying the changes to snakebite epidemiology are related to factors of snakes and humans. The distribution and abundance of snakes are expected to change with global warming via their thermal tolerance, while rainfall may affect the timing of key activities like feeding and reproduction. Human population growth is the primary cause of land-use change, which may impact snakes at smaller spatial scales than climate via habitat and biodiversity loss (e.g. prey availability). Human populations, on the other hand, could experience novel patterns and morbidity of snakebite envenoming, both as a result of snake responses to environmental change and due to the development of agricultural adaptations to climate change, socioeconomic and cultural changes, development and availability of better antivenoms, personal protective equipment, and mechanization of agriculture that mediate risk of encounters with snakes and their outcomes. The likely global effects of environmental and demographic change are thus context-dependent and could encompass both increasing and or snakebite burden (incidence, number of cases or morbidity), exposing new populations to snakes in temperate areas due to “tropicalization”, or by land use change-induced snake biodiversity loss, respectively. Tackling global change requires drastic measures to ensure large-scale ecosystem functionality. However, as ecosystems represent the main source of venomous snakes their conservation should be accompanied by comprehensive public health campaigns. The challenges associated with the joint efforts of biodiversity conservation and public health professionals should be considered in the global sustainability agenda in a wider context that applies to neglected tropical and zoonotic and emerging diseases.

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Identification evidence unraveled by strict proteomics rules toward forensic samples

et al. 2022

Electrophoresis

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Snake venom is a complex mixture of proteins and peptides secreted by venomous snakes from their poison glands. Although proteomics for snake venom composition, interspecific differences, and developmental evolution has been developed for a decade, current diagnosis or identification techniques of snake venom in clinical intoxication and forensic science applications are mainly dependent on morphological and immunoassay. It could be expected that the proteomics techniques directly offer great help. This work applied a bottom‐up proteomics method to identify proteins’ types and species attribution in suspected snake venom samples using ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole‐electrostatic field Orbitrap tandem mass spectrometric technique, and cytotoxicity assay was amended to provide a direct evidence of toxicity. Toward the suspicious samples seized in the security control, sample pretreatment (in‐sol and in‐gel digestion) and data acquisition (nontargeted and targeted screening) modes complemented and validated each other. We have implemented two consequent approaches in identifying the species source of proteins in the samples via the points of venom proteomics and strict forensic identification. First, we completed a workflow consisting of a proteomics database match toward an entire SWISS‐PROT (date 2018‐11‐22) database and a result‐directed specific taxonomy database. The latter was a helpful hint to compare master protein kinds and reveal the insufficiency of specific venom proteomics characterization rules. Second, we suggested strict rules for protein identification to meet the requirements of forensic science on improved identification correctness, that is, (1) peptide spectrum matches confidence, peptide confidence, and protein confidence were both high (with the false‐discovery ratio less than 1%); (2) the number of unique peptides was more than or equal to two in one protein, and (3) within unique peptides, which at least 75% of the ∆m/z of the matched y and b ions were less than 5 ppm. We identified these samples as cobra venom containing 10 highly abundant proteins (P00597, P82463, P60770, Q9YGI4, P62375, P49123, P80245, P60302, P01442, and P60304) from two snake venom protein families (acid phospholipase A2 and three‐finger toxins), and the most abundant proteins were cytotoxins.

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Venomous Snake Abundance Within Snake Species’ Assemblages Worldwide

Cited by 17 publications

References 23 publications

Promoting co-existence between humans and venomous snakes through increasing the herpetological knowledge base

Promoting co-existence between humans and venomous snakes through increasing the herpetological knowledge base

Implications of global environmental change for the burden of snakebite

Identification evidence unraveled by strict proteomics rules toward forensic samples

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