Conservation policy under a roadless perspective: Minimizing fragmentation in Greece

Kati, Vassiliki; Kassara, Christina; Psaralexi, Maria; Tzortzakaki, Olga; Petridou, Maria; Galani, Antonia; Hoffmann, Monika T.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108828

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Contrary to the high level of habitat fragmentation reported for lowland areas, semimountainous and mountainous areas contain large tracts of roadless [76], available habitat for the European ground squirrel. Unfortunately, most of these areas do not appear to be suitable habitats according to the bioclimatic model.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…Mount Vermio is home to the sole European ground squirrel mountainous population in Greece. While the model predicts habitat availability at several additional mountains and roadless [76] plateaus (e.g., Grammos, Kaimaktsalan, Krystallopigi, Menikio, Sfika), none were within suitable habitat according to the bioclimatic and soil model. The available habitat at the Evros Delta (Thrace) is highly fragmented.…”

Section: Ecological Niche Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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European Ground Squirrels at the Edge: Current Distribution Status and Anticipated Impact of Climate on Europe’s Southernmost Population

Rammou

Astaras²,

Migli

et al. 2022

Land

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The European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) is an endangered semifossorial small mammal of grassland/agricultural ecosystems. In the last few decades, the species’ population has declined throughout its range in Europe. The Greek populations represent the southernmost limit of the species’ range and are notably small, scattered, and located mainly in human-modified areas. The goal of the present research is to understand the environmental and anthropogenic variables associated with its distribution in the Mediterranean habitats, assess possible drivers of observed local extinctions, and propose conservation and land-use management actions in light of near-future climate change scenarios. We used presence records since 2000 across all known populations (107 colonies) and maximum entropy conditional probability models (MaxEnt) to calculate both the habitat suitability (bioclimatic variables) and habitat availability (anthropogenic/land-use variables) within the European ground squirrel’s historical range in northern Greece. We report a projected 39% to 94.3% decrease in habitat suitability by 2040–2060 due to climate change. Based on our findings, we provide guidance by proposing nascent conservation actions to protect the few existing colonies in Greece via improved land management practices and identify in situ climate refugia that could be prioritized as sites for future reintroductions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Ecological Niche Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

European Ground Squirrels at the Edge: Current Distribution Status and Anticipated Impact of Climate on Europe’s Southernmost Population

Rammou

Astaras²,

Migli

et al. 2022

Land

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show abstract

“…Other landscape metrics have been developed for use in urban and transport planning: Infrastructural Fragmentation Index (IFI) (De Montis et al, 2018); Area Weighted Metric and Integral Index of Connectivity (Ascensão et al, 2019); Road Permeability Index (RPI) (Assis et al, 2019); Roadless Fragmentation Indicator (RFI) (Kati et al, 2020); Spatial Road Disturbance Index (SPROADI) (Nematollahi et al, 2017); Probability of Connectivity Index (PC) (Furberg et al, 2020); Incidence Function Model (IFM) (Graham et al, 2018); and Least Cost Paths (LCP) (Balbi et al, 2019). Several of these, especially the Connectance Index (CONNECT) and Number of Links (NL), however, are unreliable as measures of landscape connectivity (Spanowicz and Jaeger, 2019;Freeman-Cole and Jaeger, 2020).…”

Section: The Importance Of Landscape Metrics and Their Calculationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Planning for fauna-sensitive road design: A review

Johnson

Matthews

Burke

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Roads can have significant negative impacts on wildlife. Fauna-sensitive road design (FSRD) can alleviate adverse impacts on several species by installing specialised structures, such as wildlife crossing structures. This developing subfield has generally, however, had a limited impact on transportation planning and management. Indeed, most research is focused narrowly on technological solutions, instead of broader policy learnings. This systematic quantitative literature review (SQLR) of international literature sought to identify the biodiversity concerns acknowledged in transport planning policy, as well as the barriers to the adoption of environmental policies within transport planning. Despite considerable literature available on the impacts of roads on wildlife elsewhere, acknowledgement and consideration of both fauna movement and fauna-sensitive road design were limited in road transportation planning research. More broadly, failure to achieve environmental objectives within transport planning occurred primarily as a result of competing sector interests (conflicted knowledge), different political objectives (political interest), and incorrect interpretation of policies. In essence, the results add new layers of understanding to the field of transportation planning and policy, in particular, the gaps in acknowledgement of wildlife movements and the limitations of current fauna-sensitive road design considered. Importantly, the review identified multiple ecological support tools available to transport policy- and decision-makers. Integration of these in road transportation projects could facilitate enhanced uptake and adoption of FSRD measures and thus foster improved sustainability of the transport network.

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“…The total length of roads already exceeds 64 million km (van der Ree et al 2015) and by 2050, at least 25 million km of additional roads are expected to be built (Laurance et al 2014). Transportation infrastructure promotes economic growth and human welfare (Kati et al 2020), thus the majority of new roads (ca. 90%) will be constructed in developing nations (Alamgir et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring 15 years of brown bear (Ursus arctos)-vehicle collisions in northwestern Greece

Psaralexi¹,

Lazarina²,

Mertzanis³

et al. 2022

Self Cite

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Road networks provide several benefits to human societies; however, they are also one of the major drivers of fragmentation and habitat degradation. Their negative effects include wildlife-vehicle collisions which are associated with increased barrier effects, restricted gene flow, and increased local extinction risk. Large carnivores, such as the brown bear (Ursus arctos), are vulnerable to road mortality while they also put human safety at risk in every collision. We recorded approximately 100 bear-vehicle collisions during the last 15 years (2005–2020) in northwestern Greece and identified common aspects for collisions, i.e., spatial, or temporal segregation of collision events, road features, and age or sex of the involved animals. We recorded collisions in both the core distribution area of brown bears, as well as at the periphery, where few individuals, mostly males, disperse. According to our findings, there are four collision hotspots which include ca. 60% of total collisions. Bear-vehicle collisions occurred mostly in periods of increased animal mobility, under poor light conditions and low visibility. In most cases, we deem that a collision was unavoidable at the time of animal detection, because the driver could not have reacted in time to avoid it. Appropriate fencing, in combination with the retention of safe passages for the animals, can minimize collisions. Therefore, such mitigation measures, wildlife warning signs and other collision prevention systems, such as animal detection systems, should be adopted to decrease the number of bear-vehicle collisions and improve road safety.

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Conservation policy under a roadless perspective: Minimizing fragmentation in Greece

Cited by 19 publications

References 30 publications

European Ground Squirrels at the Edge: Current Distribution Status and Anticipated Impact of Climate on Europe’s Southernmost Population

European Ground Squirrels at the Edge: Current Distribution Status and Anticipated Impact of Climate on Europe’s Southernmost Population

Planning for fauna-sensitive road design: A review

Exploring 15 years of brown bear (Ursus arctos)-vehicle collisions in northwestern Greece

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