Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Wildlife Road Mortality in Golestan National Park-North East of Iran

Abstract

Nowadays, wildlife road mortality is acknowledged as a main source of threatening long-term survival of wildlife. This paper as the first to analysis wild life vehicle collisions in Iran, aims to reconstruct and interpret the spatio-temporal patterns of WVCs on Asiaei highway in Golestan National Park (GNP). With the collaboration of environmental protection department of GNP, we identified about 1900 WVC Records involving 34 different species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians between 2004 and 2013. Mammals were involved in more than 50% of overall WVCs, among which wild boar (Sus scrofa), Golden Jackal (Canis aureus), Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), hedgehog (Erinaceus concolor), stone marten (Martes foina) and porcupine (Hystrix indica) were involved in more than 90% of mammals' mortalities; So, we focused on analyzing spatio-temporal pattern of vehicle collisions of these six mammal species. During the study period, these species have undergone 95% increase in road mortalities, averagely. Detailed temporal analyses exhibited an increasing trend of road mortalities from spring to summer and then a reducing one to late winter. It was shown that a large number of collisions occurred in holiday periods when recreational trips considerably increased the traffic volume of Asiaei highway. Preliminary inspection of spatial patterns using Kernel density analysis revealed six collision hotspots, mostly located in the road bends with densely forested land cover on both sides; the promenades along the road seemed to play a significant role too. Scale dependency analyses of collision patterns, demonstrated clustering pattern at micro scales less than 10 km, randomness at meso scales 10 -20 km and both regularity and clustering at macro scales more than 20 km. This paper suggests that road mortality of common species in GNP is a momentous issue, which needs to be considered by relevant governmental and public organizations. We also emphasize that the analyses of spatial and temporal patterns of WVCs are fundamentals to plan for mitigate wildlife road mortality.

Spatio-Temporal Patterns and Consequences of Road Kills: A Review

“…The development and growth of road networks profoundly impact on the surrounding landscape and various life forms. Increasing population size and economic growth facilitates the demand for transportation infrastructure at all scales [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. The expansion of transport infrastructure has contributed to unquestionable economic and social development [ 4 , 5 ].…”

“…The expansion of transport infrastructure has contributed to unquestionable economic and social development [ 4 , 5 ]. On the other hand, rapid road infrastructure development has significantly impacted on the natural landscape alterations and degradation globally [ 2 , 4 , 6 ]. Road infrastructure development with steep and sensitive terrain results in environmental degradation, of which common features are roadside erosion (predominantly gullies), slumping/landslides, and rock fall, amongst others [ 1 , 7 , 8 ].…”

“…In addition to environmental degradation, road infrastructure development also affects animal (wild and domestic) movement. Vehicle collisions with animals persist in being a major challenge [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Animals have to maneuver through these modified landscapes, and face the risk of a collision with a vehicle on the road [ 3 , 9 , 14 ].…”

Application of long-term collected data for conservation: Spatio-temporal patterns of mortality in Japanese serow

“…An understanding of the spatio-temporal patterns of wildlife mortality is essential to conserve the wildlife population and ensure human health and safety [23,41]. Unevenly distributed carcasses or sick animals in specified areas imply that a specific disease may be endemic, and are important indicators for the control of infectious diseases [10].…”

Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Mammal Road Mortality in Middle Magdalena Valley, Colombia

“…Therefore, wildlifevehicle collisions remain a latent threat for national biodiversity that requires urgent evaluation, effective mitigation and management. Identify spatial and temporal patterns of wildlife-vehicle collisions and understand how native species moves through landscape is critical to avoid high-risk areas and install or improve mitigation measures on existing, new or projected roads (Bueno et al 2015, Gunson & Teixeira 2015, Kazemi et al 2016.…”