Road-kill of Mammals in Nova Scotia

Abstract

We examined road mortality of wild mammals in Nova Scotia using data from (a) five years of province-wide data on wildlife collisions involving larger mammals, and (b) 20 months of observations of smaller mammals along a 160-km route near Halifax. An average of 2079 White-tailed Deer was reported killed annually on highways during 1999 through 2003, along with 14 Moose and 33 Black Bear. Female White-tailed Deer were more likely to be road-killed than males (by a factor of 1.8), yearlings more so than older animals, and there were peaks of mortality in the late spring and late autumn. The road-kill of smaller mammals was highest in the summer and least in the winter, and the most frequent mortalities were of Raccoon (28% of observations), Porcupine (27%), Skunk (17%), Snowshoe Hare (6%), Coyote (4%), and Groundhog (3%). The standardized kill-rate (number/100 km) was highest on a 100-series highway compared to trunk highways or urban streets, but the rate standardized to vehicle density was highest on trunk highways.

Implications for conservation and game management of the roadkill levels of the endemic Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis)

“…Our results indicate that over half of all documented vertebrate roadkills within the study area were Iberian hares. This frequency is higher than that observed for ungulates or other medium-and large-sized mammals 1,67 and for other hare species 19,20 . In addition, the standardized kill rate was almost five times higher for Iberian hare than for the other studied www.nature.com/scientificreports/ hare species 17,18 , which contrasts sharply with other available data for hare road collisions in northern Spain 29 .…”

“…All other wild species killed by vehicle collisions were also recorded. Kill rates were standardized as the number recorded per 100 km 19 .…”

“…However, the incidence of road mortality in lagomorphs has not been well studied. Previous research examining the impacts of roads on hares has focused on the European hare (Lepus europaeus) 8,16,17 and other non-Mediterranean hare species [18][19][20] . To date, such data has not been gathered on the Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis), nor has a detailed analysis of road mortality been conducted for this species.The Iberian hare is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula 21 .…”

Accessing Local Tacit Knowledge as a Means of Knowledge Co-Production for Effective Wildlife Corridor Planning in the Chignecto Isthmus, Canada

“…Nonetheless, it is important to maintain and restore connectivity across human-dominated landscapes because habitat fragmentation is a key cause of wildlife decline [5]. Linear human developments such as roads are increasingly recognized as predominant impediments to habitat connectivity [97][98][99][100][101]. Yet, there are few studies that address wildlife and linear development patterns at broad-regional scales, despites calls for such attention [102][103][104][105].…”

“…Human footprint (HF) scores in the Isthmus are higher than average across the larger Acadian/Northern Appalachian ecoregion, with HF scores of 21-30 (out of 100) assigned to most of the Isthmus and higher HF scores (41-60) in a broad swath dissecting the Isthmus; as such, the Chignecto Isthmus region is classified as 'high threat', defined as above average levels for the ecoregion [45,65]. In general, many wildlife species are negatively affected by roads (for overviews relevant to the study area see, [99,128]). Moose populations have been shown to be vulnerable to increased hunting pressure near roads, especially illegal hunting; and in NB, 92% of moose killed by hunters occurred within 1 km of forest roads [129].…”