Seasonal variation in vertebrate traffic casualties and its implications for mitigation measures

Garriga, Núria; Franch, Marc; Santos, Xavier; Montori, Albert; Llorente, Gustavo A.

doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.05.029

Cited by 68 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Consistent with findings from other studies of wildlife‐vehicle collisions, roadkill varied seasonally and peaked in autumn especially for deer and raccoon. The temporal trends we observed correspond to known periods of dispersal and times of increased movement (e.g., breeding; Romin and Bissonette , Garriga et al ). Seasonal differences in the number of drivers on the road could also influence both seasonal roadkill patterns and observer reports.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…Ecological dynamics affect temporal patterns of wildlife movement that likely influence crossing and collision rates. Previous researchers have reported that peak roadkill coincides with mating seasons and times of juvenile dispersal (Romin and Bissonette 1996, Boitet and Mead 2014, Garriga et al 2017. Collision rates may also vary with lunar cycles; moonlight has been linked to increased mammalian and avian movement (Mizuta 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Roadkill distribution at the wildland‐urban interface

Kreling

Gaynor

Coon³

2019

J Wildl Manag

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The growing wildland‐urban interface is a frontier of human‐wildlife conflict worldwide. Where natural and developed areas meet, there is potential for negative interactions between humans and wild animals, including wildlife‐vehicle collisions. Understanding the environmental and anthropogenic factors leading to these collisions can inform transportation and habitat planning, with an objective of reducing animal mortality and human costs. We investigated spatial, temporal, and species‐specific patterns of roadkill on Interstate‐280 (I‐280) in California, USA, and examined the effects of land cover, fencing, lighting, and traffic. The highway is situated just south of San Francisco, dividing a large wildlife refuge to the west from dense residential areas to the east, and therefore presents a major barrier to wildlife movement. Areas with a higher percentage of developed land east of I‐280 and areas with more open space on the west side of I‐280 were associated with an increase in overall roadkill, suggesting that hard boundaries at the wildland‐urban interface may be zones of high risk for dispersing animals. This pattern was especially strong for raccoons (Procyon lotor) and black‐tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus). The presence of lighting correlated with increased roadkill with the exception of coyote (Canis latrans). Contrary to our expectations, we found weak evidence that fencing increases roadkill, perhaps because animals become trapped on roadways or because fencing is not sufficient to block access to the road by wildlife. Finally, we found strong evidence for roadkill seasonality, correlated with differences in movement and dispersal across life‐history stages. We highlight the value of citizen‐science datasets for monitoring human‐wildlife conflict and suggest potential mitigation measures to reduce the negative effects of wildlife‐vehicle collisions for people and wildlife. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Roadkill distribution at the wildland‐urban interface

Kreling

Gaynor

Coon³

2019

J Wildl Manag

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“…Our predictive models may be less informative than other studies for specific taxonomic groups (particularly for species influenced by season and who are more active during wetter periods like amphibians), but they can be valuable management tools if we consider that roadkill probability shares common risk factors across multiple groups. Statistical analysis from recent literature (Garriga et al, ; Lin, ) may allow an improvement on model prediction aiding more efficient implementation of mitigation measures for specific taxonomic groups. Furthermore, given the limitations of the current literature regarding scales at which to sample multiple vertebrate taxa, we suggest that future surveys should be clear about these confines and limit measurements of landscape structure to within the range of scales for which management can be accomplished (Jackson & Fahrig, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ecological or environmental factors are any abiotic or biotic factors that influence living organisms, which may include ambient temperature and amount of sunlight, whilst physical factors are nonliving factors that affect organisms and their survival (Allaby, ). Many studies around the world have investigated the possible ecological and physical factors influencing roadkill occurrence such as season (Garriga, Franch, Santos, Montori, & Llorente, ; Snow, Andelt, & Gould, ), landscape (Cuyckens, MochI, Vallejos, Perovic, & Biganzoli, ; Husby, ; Snow et al, ; Son et al, ), roadside fencing (Braz & França, ; Son et al, ), traffic volumes and vehicle speed (Husby, ; Snow et al, ) and road surface (Braz & França, ). Only a few of these studies have been conducted in Africa (Bullock, Malan, & Pretorius, ; Dean & Milton, ; Drews, ; Haverschmidt, ; Van der Hoeven, Boer, & Prins, ; Kioko, Kiffner, Jenkins, & Collinson, ; Mkanda & Chansa, ; Siegfried, ), and few roadkill studies have assessed ecological and physical factors simultaneously (Burgin & Brainwood, ; Ha & Shilling, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing the spatial patterns of vertebrate roadkill in South Africa: The Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area as a case study

et al. 2019

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Few studies have investigated the factors that influence roadkill occurrence in developing countries. In 2013, we monitored a 100‐km section of the road (comprising the R572 and R521 regional highways and the D2662) that pass through the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area in South Africa, to assess the possible factors influencing roadkill. Over a period of 120 days, and across the three ecological seasons, we recorded 981 roadkills (rate = 0.08 roadkill/km/day) from four vertebrate taxonomic groups. We generated predictive models of roadkill from one combined data set that considered eight variables identified from the literature as potential correlates of roadkill. The model that included the distance of the fence from the road, habitat type adjacent to the road, and the presence of a hill in the road (i.e., elevation) or a bank on the side of the road best explained roadkill occurrence. More roadkill was predicted to occur in both open and dense mopane and dense mixed bushveld habitats, on a hill, when there was a bank on the side of the road, and as the distance between the road verge and a fence decreased. Our model provides some insight into the significant predictors of roadkill occurrence and is therefore a valuable tool in identifying sites of high‐potential roadkill frequency and formulating mitigation measures for reducing road mortalities.

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“…In Europe, USA and Canada some studies tried to understand this (CLEVENGER et al, 2003;GRILO et al, 2009;GRILO et al, 2012;D'AMICO et al, 2015;GARRIGA et al, 2017) and concluded that temperature influences roadkill (D'AMICO et al, 2015;GARRIGA et al, 2017). In Brazil, we have just started, our researches investigate if there are more roadkill in the rainy or dry season (BUENO; ALMEIDA, 2010;RAMOS et al, 2011;BRAZ;FRANÇA, 2016) or the stretches of the highway with higher roadkill rates (CÁCERES et al, 2012;BUENO et al, 2012;SANTANA, 2012;FERREIRA et al, 2014;CARVALHO et al, 2015;ASCENSÃO et al, 2017;SANTOS et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of climate variables on roadkill rates of wild vertebrates in the cerrado biome, Brazil

Carvalho-Roel¹,

Custódio²,

Júnior³

2017

Biosci. J.

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ABSTRACT:Wildlife road killing is a problem for animal conservation in the world. In order to mitigate this problem, it is necessary to understand the factors that affect it, like seasonality and climatic variables. The objective of the study was to evaluate the influence of climatic variables (mean temperature, relative air humidity and accumulated precipitation), seasonality and average daily traffic (ADT) on vertebrate roadkill rates in an area of Cerrado biome, Brazil. The study area is a stretch of 96 km of the highway BR-050, a four-lane road, between the cities of Uberlândia and Uberaba, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This area is characterized by intense fragmentation of natural areas, with few remnants of Cerrado biome. The climate has two very defined seasons, a warm and rainy summer and a very dry winter. We analyzed data from roadkill monitoring carried out from April 2012 to March 2013. The road was monitored weekly by car at an average speed of 60 km/h, by two observers, totaling 8,064 km surveyed. The highest roadkill rates for reptiles were recorded in the rainy season, for the other groups (mammals and birds) no difference was found. We also checked seasonality for the most abundant species: the highest number of roadkills was found in the rainy season for the common boa (Boa constrictor amarali) and for the six-banded armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus). For the crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous), crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus), striped hog-nosed skunk (Conepatus semistriatus) and red-legged seriema (Cariama cristata) we found no difference. The humidity and accumulated precipitation positively influenced the reptile roadkill rate. As expected, the same result was found for Boa constrictor amarali. Mammal roadkill rate increases with accumulated precipitation, on the other hand, Euphractus sexcinctus roadkill rate increases with temperature. Birds are not affected by climate variables, nevertheless, Cariama cristata roadkill rate decreases as humidity increases. Contrary to expectations, ADT had no influence on roadkill rates. These results show that it is necessary to investigate the influence of possible descriptor variables on mammals, birds and reptiles separately and not for all vertebrates as a group. Furthermore, certain species may even present different temporal patterns.

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Seasonal variation in vertebrate traffic casualties and its implications for mitigation measures

Cited by 68 publications

References 51 publications

Roadkill distribution at the wildland‐urban interface

Roadkill distribution at the wildland‐urban interface

Factors influencing the spatial patterns of vertebrate roadkill in South Africa: The Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area as a case study

Influence of climate variables on roadkill rates of wild vertebrates in the cerrado biome, Brazil

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