Predicting when animal populations are at risk from roads: an interactive model of road avoidance behavior

Jaeger, Jochen A.G.; Bowman, Jeff; Brennan, Julie M.; Fahrig, Lenore; Bert, Dan; Bouchard, Julie; Charbonneau, Neil; Frank, Karin; Gruber, Bernd; Toschanowitz, Katharina Tluk von

doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2004.12.015

Cited by 354 publications

(336 citation statements)

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“…Most of them showed a small amount of road-kill events and, consequently, a low road-kill rate; yet this quantity may represent a relevant impact for these species. This small abundance of road-kill for most species may indicates: 1) the abundance distribution pattern: many rare species and a few common species, showing a hollow curve or hyperbolic shape on a histogram (McGill et al, 2007); 2) species rarely killed by vehicles avoid roads (Jaeger et al, 2005;McGregor et al, 2008;Rosa and Bager, 2013); or, 3) sampling bias for small vertebrates, that is, small vertebrates are less detectable and thus, underestimated in road-kill sample (Teixeira et al, 2013). Neither hypothesis was intended to be tested in this study, but we encourage other researchers to create field experiments to test these hypotheses in tropical ecosystems.…”

Section: Dependent Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat or matrix: which is more relevant to predict road-kill of vertebrates?

2015

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We believe that in tropics we need a community approach to evaluate road impacts on wildlife, and thus, suggest mitigation measures for groups of species instead a focal-species approach. Understanding which landscape characteristics indicate road-kill events may also provide models that can be applied in other regions. We intend to evaluate if habitat or matrix is more relevant to predict road-kill events for a group of species. Our hypothesis is: more permeable matrix is the most relevant factor to explain road-kill events. To test this hypothesis, we chose vertebrates as the studied assemblage and a highway crossing in an Atlantic Forest region in southeastern Brazil as the study site. Logistic regression models were designed using presence/absence of road-kill events as dependent variables and landscape characteristics as independent variables, which were selected by Akaike's Information Criterion. We considered a set of candidate models containing four types of simple regression models: Habitat effect model; Matrix types effect models; Highway effect model; and, Reference models (intercept and buffer distance). Almost three hundred road-kills and 70 species were recorded. River proximity and herbaceous vegetation cover, both matrix effect models, were associated to most road-killed vertebrate groups. Matrix was more relevant than habitat to predict road-kill of vertebrates. The association between river proximity and road-kill indicates that rivers may be a preferential route for most species. We discuss multi-species mitigation measures and implications to movement ecology and conservation strategies.Keywords: connectivity, conservation, landscape ecology, rivers, road ecology.Habitat ou matriz: qual é mais relevante para prever atropelamentos de vertebrados? ResumoNós acreditamos que nos trópicos, precisamos de uma abordagem de comunidade para avaliar os impactos das estradas sobre a vida silvestre, e então, sugerir medidas de mitigação para grupos de espécies ao invés da abordagem de espécie-foco. Compreender quais características da paisagem indicam eventos de atropelamento podem também fornecer modelos que podem ser aplicados em outras regiões. Nós pretendemos avaliar se habitat ou matriz é mais relevante para prever eventos de atropelamento para grupos de espécies. Nossa hipótese é: matriz mais permeável é o fator mais relevante para explicar os eventos de atropelamentos. Para testar essa hipótese, escolhemos vertebrados como a assembléia estudada e uma rodovia cruzando uma região de Mata Atlântica no sudeste do Brasil como área de estudo. Modelos de regressão logística foram criados usando presença/ausência de eventos de atropelamentos como variáveis dependentes e características da paisagem como variáveis independentes, os quais foram selecionados pelo Critério de Informação de Akaike. Nós consideramos um conjunto de modelos candidatos contendo quatro tipos de modelos de regressão simples: modelo de efeito de habitat; modelos de efeito de tipos de matriz; modelo de efeito da rodovia; e, mode...

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Section: Dependent Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat or matrix: which is more relevant to predict road-kill of vertebrates?

2015

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“…competition and predation) of organisms (Fahrig 2003;Jaeger et al 2005). On the behavioural level, changes at edges trigger three possible responses: (i) edge attraction, which occurs when the number of individuals increases at habitat edges; (ii) edge avoidance, when individuals avoid the edges, reducing the number of individuals in these areas or (iii) neutral edge effects, when there is no significant effect on the individual, population or community level (Jaeger et al 2005;Rosa & Bager 2013). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Proliferation of roads over recent decades is also contributing to lethal and sub-lethal edge effects (Laurance et al 2009;Rosa & Bager 2012;NavarroCastilla et al 2014), especially within certain habitat types (Fuentes-Montemayor et al 2009). In contrast to a crop matrix, which provides habitat for some small mammals (Passamani & Ribeiro 2009), road surfaces commonly lead individuals to avoid the road-forest edge due to paving and changes in the microclimate and vegetation (Jaeger et al 2005;McGregor et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Edge effects on small mammals: Differences between arboreal and ground‐dwelling species living near roads in Brazilian fragmented landscapes

Rosa¹,

Secco

Carvalho

et al. 2017

Austral Ecology

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Habitat fragmentation often induces edge effects that can increase, decrease or have minimal effect upon the population density of a species, depending upon environmental conditions and the requirements of the species. Using a trapping study and generalized linear mixed models, we evaluated edge effects on small tropical mammals living near roads, including two ground-dwelling (Akodon sp. and Cerradomys subflavus) and two arboreal (Marmosops incanus and Rhipidomys sp.) species. We examined the relationship of these edge effects to environmental factors at both plot and patch scales. Generalist ground-dwelling species were attracted to edges, with higher population densities recorded in habitats close to road or matrix edges where vegetation density was lower. In contrast, populations of the generalist arboreal species avoided edge habitats, their populations were found in greater density in habitats far from roads/matrix edges. Thus, our results show that patterns of edge habitat utilization were related to the ecological requirements of each species. These findings are especially important in the tropics, where demand for economic growth in many countries has accelerated the fragmentation process and has recently culminated in increased road construction and expansion. Fragmented habitats promote an increase in edge environments, and consequently will reduce the abundance of arboreal small mammal species, such as those used as models in this study.

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“…Since we controlled for potential confounding variables through site selection (Table 1) and multimodel analysis, a correlation between road density and availability of deer habitat is unlikely to explain this positive relationship between deer rank abundance and paved road density. One possibility we considered is that, if deer behaviourally avoid roads or traffic (Long et al 2010) then it is possible that, in landscapes with high road density, they become 'trapped' within small road-bounded areas (Jaeger et al 2005). Following the season's reproduction, this could cause an apparent increase in abundance in these landscapes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of paved road density on abundance of white-tailed deer

2012

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Context. Although~3% of white-tailed deer are killed on roads each year, no previous study has tested for an effect of roads on deer abundance. This is difficult to do because road density is generally negatively correlated with deer habitat availability.Aims. Our goal was to determine whether roads affect deer abundance.Methods. First, we used an existing dataset from Pennsylvania, USA, to determine a range of paved road densities representing a significant range in deer per capita mortality. We then conducted a field study in eastern Ontario, Canada, with sample sites for relative deer abundance selected such that (1) road density in the surrounding landscapes varied over this same range, and (2) there were low correlations across landscapes between road density and deer habitat availability. The latter allowed us to isolate the effects of roads from the effects of habitat on deer abundance. We indexed relative deer abundance using a combination of pellet samples and track counts.Key results. Unexpectedly, we observed a positive relationship between relative deer abundance and paved road density. Conclusions. We speculate that this positive relationship is due to (1) reduced deer predation and/or perceived predation risk and/or hunting pressure in landscapes with higher road density and/or (2) provision of a resource or service by roads, the benefits of which outweigh the road mortality.Implications. We found no evidence that road mortality places deer populations at risk of decline, at least over the range of road density values in our study. Therefore we conclude that road mortality is not a conservation concern for white-tailed deer in ecological contexts similar to our study areas.

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Predicting when animal populations are at risk from roads: an interactive model of road avoidance behavior

Cited by 354 publications

References 63 publications

Habitat or matrix: which is more relevant to predict road-kill of vertebrates?

Habitat or matrix: which is more relevant to predict road-kill of vertebrates?

Edge effects on small mammals: Differences between arboreal and ground‐dwelling species living near roads in Brazilian fragmented landscapes

Effect of paved road density on abundance of white-tailed deer

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