International Journal of Molecular Ecology and Conservation, 2025, Vol.15, No.3, 101-110 http://ecoevopublisher.com/index.php/ijmec 101 Research Insight Open Access Impacts of Human Activities on Snake Biodiversity and Conservation Strategies He Jing, Li Jun Animal Science Research Center, Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311900, Zhejiang, China Corresponding author: jun.li@cuixi.org International Journal of Molecular Ecology and Conservation, 2025, Vol.15, No.3 doi: 10.5376/ijmec.2025.15.0011 Received: 14 Mar., 2025 Accepted: 22 Apr., 2025 Published: 08 May, 2025 Copyright © 2025 Jing and Jun, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Jing H., and Jun L., 2025, Impacts of human activities on snake biodiversity and conservation strategies, International Journal of Molecular Ecology and Conservation, 15(3): 101-110 (doi: 10.5376/ijmec.2025.15.0011) Abstract This study comprehensively analyzes the main impact mechanisms of human activities on snake biodiversity, including habitat loss, environmental pollution, direct hunting and illegal trade, alien species invasion, and the superimposed effects of climate change. It also reviews the current status and policy differences of snake protection at the international and regional levels, and discussed the causes of the decline in snake diversity with specific cases. Studies have shown that snakes play an important role as predators and prey in the ecosystem, and have irreplaceable ecological functions in maintaining the balance of the food web and controlling farmland rodent pests. However, a large number of species are threatened by human activities such as habitat destruction, overhunting, and pollution. This study proposes a comprehensive snake protection strategy, including strengthening habitat protection and restoration, strengthening legal supervision and trade control, promoting public education and mediation of human-snake conflicts, and improving scientific research and monitoring systems. This study emphasizes the importance of snakes in maintaining ecological balance and human health, and calls on countries to strengthen cooperation and further improve snake protection measures in the future to curb the continuous decline in snake biodiversity and promote the harmonious coexistence of humans and wild animals. Keywords Snakes; Human activities; Biodiversity conservation; Habitat loss; Ecological restoration 1 Introduction As medium-sized predators, snakes are an important part of the food web in the ecosystem. On the one hand, snakes control the population of rodents, amphibians, etc. by preying on these species, thereby reducing agricultural and forestry pests and insect pests and reducing the risk of disease transmission. On the other hand, snakes themselves are also a source of food for higher trophic level predators such as birds and raptors, and play a key role in maintaining the energy flow of the food web (Vaughn et al., 2022). In addition, snakes are sensitive to environmental changes. Many studies regard snakes as "indicator species" of ecological health, such as using the heavy metal content accumulated in snakes to indicate the degree of wetland pollution (Lettoof et al., 2020). The medicinal value of snake venom has also attracted attention: modern pharmacological studies have shown that snake venom contains a variety of active ingredients, which can be used to develop drugs such as cardiovascular diseases and anti-tumor drugs (Oliveira et al., 2022). Therefore, snakes are not only crucial to maintaining ecological balance, but also provide potential medical resources and economic value for humans. However, due to historical and cultural reasons, snakes are often regarded as dangerous and frightening animals in human society. This negative perception has, to a certain extent, led to the improper hunting of snakes and the neglect of their conservation value (Kontsiotis et al., 2022; Landová et al., 2020). There are about 4,000 known snake species in the world, distributed in most terrestrial ecosystems and some waters except the Arctic and Antarctic. Snake diversity is richest in tropical regions, especially rainforest and wetland ecosystems, which are habitats for many endemic species (Marshall et al., 2020). At the same time, some arid and semi-arid regions have also nurtured unique snake faunas, showing a special pattern of reptile diversity distribution (Cox et al., 2022). Despite this, regional surveys and global assessments of snakes in recent years have shown that snake diversity is facing a severe survival crisis. Globally, snake populations are experiencing a decline or even local extinction. For example, in Central America, due to the extinction-like decline of amphibians caused by chytridiomycosis, tropical snake communities that rely
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