Conservation threats from roadkill in the global road network

Abstract

Aim:The road network is increasing globally but the consequences of roadkill on the viability of wildlife populations are largely unknown. We provide a framework that allows us to estimate how risk of extinction of local populations increases due to roadkill and to generate a global assessment that identifies which mammalian species are most vulnerable to roadkill and the areas where they occur.

The impacts of linear infrastructure on terrestrial vertebrate populations: A trait‐based approach

“…For example, attraction to roads may lead to increased mortality rates in carnivorous mammals and reptiles with active foraging strategies (González‐Suárez et al, 2018 ; Sosa & Schalk, 2016 ). As a result, our reported positive responses to infrastructure for carnivores may translate into reduced long‐term population persistence if collision rates in an area exceed the population growth rate (Ceia‐Hasse et al, 2017 ; Grilo et al, 2021 ; Planillo et al, 2018 ). Additionally, easily measurable responses, such as roadkills, may be collected in citizen‐science projects and can provide valuable information for species and geographical locations that are under‐represented in population‐level studies (Périquet et al, 2018 ; Valerio et al, 2021 ).…”

Felino pequeño, ciudad grande: Leopardus Colocola (Carnivora: Felidae) en la Región Metropolitana de Santiago de Chile y amenazas para su conservación

“…La instalación de señalética que advierta de presencia de fauna y sugiera límites de velocidad en las carreteras, no podrá cumplir con su objetivo sin trabajos previos de sensibilización. Estas labores deben dar a entender que ciertas conductas humanas y el atropellamiento, sumado a las afectaciones ocasionadas por el ruido y el efecto barrera de las carreteras, pueden llevar a la reducción de la población de L. colocola e incluso a su extinción (Grilo et al, 2021).…”

The road of >1000 corpses: landscape and road-related features that promote mortality in the Amazon

“…Additionally, caecilians, considered as the least known terrestrial vertebrates (Jared et al 2019), with 56% of the species distributed in Ecuador classi ed as threatened, and 28% as Data De cient or remaining unassessed (Ron et al 2021), had the second highest mortality in amphibians. While detailed population assessments are needed to understand the impacts of road mortality, for threatened species even low roadkill rates can have major impacts on their populations (Grilo et al 2021). Our study suggests that roads in Napo could be affecting the vertebrate community, including threatened, poorly studied, and even undescribed species.…”

“…For example, the Amazon is the most biodiverse wilderness area in the world (Sangermano et al 2012) but is threatened by growing human activities such as hunting, urbanization, agriculture, and roads (Viteri-Salazar and Toledo 2020). The addition of over 12,000 km of new roads planned in this region for the next ve years (Vilela et al 2020) may increase the risk of local extinction of several animal populations (Grilo et al 2021) and could lead to the disappearance of many undescribed species (Funk et al 2012).…”