Dr Harmar said the genetic testing would indicate whether adders were “mixing across sites or slipping into in-breeding”.
The work is funded by the Natural England Species Recovery Programme, with Natural England staff delivering fieldwork locally alongside the Nidderdale National Landscape team, volunteers and staff from Yorkshire Water.
A NNL spokesperson said DNA samples collected from adders would help scientists “understand population health and connectivity”.
“The whole genome sequencing technique reads the complete genetic code of each snake, revealing whether populations are mixing well or becoming isolated,” they added.
Dr Will Askew of Natural England said: “Comparing an upland landscape like Nidderdale with other upland, heathland and forest sites in other regions will help us understand how varying levels of connectivity are affecting adder populations and inform what we do to maintain or restore it.”
Dr Askew said all sampling would follow “strict welfare protocols”.
He said: “Adders are gently captured, a tiny number of scales are taken for DNA, and the animal is released on site immediately afterwards.”