Chapter Three Road Kill

2020 ◽  
pp. 101-130
Keyword(s):  
Road Kill

Potential Movement Corridors and High Road-Kill Likelihood do not Spatially Coincide for Felids in Brazil: Implications for Road Mitigation

2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 412-423
Author(s):  
Rafaela Cobucci Cerqueira ◽  
Paul B. Leonard ◽  
Lucas Gonçalves da Silva ◽  
Alex Bager ◽  
Anthony P. Clevenger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Road Kill ◽  
Road Mitigation ◽  
High Road

Spatial patterns and factors influencing small vertebrate fauna road-kill aggregations

2003 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony P Clevenger ◽  
Bryan Chruszcz ◽  
Kari E Gunson
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Vertebrate Fauna ◽  
Road Kill ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Small Vertebrate

scholarly journals Inference in road ecology research: what we know versus what we think we know

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 20200140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Z. Teixeira ◽  
Trina Rytwinski ◽  
Lenore Fahrig
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Road Ecology ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Road Kill ◽  
Single Mechanism ◽  
Traffic Impacts ◽  
Wildlife Populations

Roads and traffic impacts on wildlife populations are well documented. Three major mechanisms can cause them: reduced connectivity, increased mortality and reduced habitat quality. Researchers commonly recommend mitigation based on the mechanism they deem responsible. We reviewed the 2012–2016 literature to evaluate authors' inferences, to determine whether they explicitly acknowledge all possible mechanisms that are consistent with their results. We found 327 negative responses of wildlife to roads, from 307 studies. While most (84%) of these responses were consistent with multiple mechanisms, 60% of authors invoked a single mechanism. This indicates that many authors are over-confident in their inferences, and that the literature does not allow estimation of the relative importance of the mechanisms. We found preferences in authors' discussion of mechanisms. When all three mechanisms were consistent with the response measured, authors were 2.4 and 2.9 times as likely to infer reduced habitat quality compared to reduced connectivity or increased mortality, respectively. When both reduced connectivity and increased mortality were consistent with the response measured, authors were 5.2 times as likely to infer reduced connectivity compared to increased mortality. Given these results, road ecologists and managers are likely over-recommending mitigation for improving habitat quality and connectivity, and under-recommending measures to reduce road-kill.

scholarly journals Prioritizing road‐kill mitigation areas: A spatially explicit national‐scale model for an elusive carnivore

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 1093-1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca F. Russo ◽  
Rafael Barrientos ◽  
Mauro Fabrizio ◽  
Mirko Di Febbraro ◽  
Anna Loy
Keyword(s):  
Scale Model ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Road Kill

Use of fauna road-crossing structures in north-eastern New South Wales

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian F. Hayes ◽  
Ross L. Goldingay
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Road Mortality ◽  
Road Kill ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Crossing Structures ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Level Of Use ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
High Level

The vast network of roads around the world has had a significant effect on wildlife and ecosystems through habitat fragmentation, reduced dispersal and mortality by collision with vehicles. Road agencies worldwide now frequently install dedicated structures to facilitate the safe crossing of roads by wildlife. We conducted surveys to determine the use of dedicated wildlife overpasses and nearby underpasses at two locations on the Pacific Highway in north-eastern New South Wales. Road-kill surveys were conducted to provide some understanding of the species commonly killed and whether the rate of road-kill was lower at one location where crossing-structures were located. Use of the crossing-structures by wildlife was monitored with sand-transects. The most frequent users were macropods, bandicoots and rodents. Macropods made greater use of overpasses (n = 104 tracks) than underpasses (n = 36), whereas underpasses were used more by bandicoots (n = 87) and rodents (n = 82) than were overpasses (n = 28, n = 15, respectively). We identified 78 road-kills of 21 species on two sections of the Pacific Highway over a 7-week period. Bandicoots (n = 16) and macropods (n = 9) were the most frequently observed victims. The mortality of wildlife was lower along the highway section with the crossing-structures (0.04 road-kills km–1) than it was along the highway section without structures (0.15 road-kills km–1). The lack of replication precludes any firm conclusion that the crossing-structures reduced road mortality but the high level of use of the crossing-structures by species that were common victims of road-kill suggests an influence.

Factors affecting the mortality of Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi) by vehicle strike

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy L. Shima ◽  
David S. Gillieson ◽  
Gabriel M. Crowley ◽  
Ross G. Dwyer ◽  
Lee Berger
Keyword(s):  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Warning Signs ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Speed Limits ◽  
Road Kill ◽  
Male Tree ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Traffic Volumes ◽  
Dendrolagus Lumholtzi

Context Vehicle strike is a major issue where wildlife habitat is intersected by busy roads. Near Threatened Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi) is a large (5–10 kg) semi-arboreal mammal found in populated rural and forested areas of north-eastern Australia. Warning signs, rope bridges and underpasses have not prevented ~20 animals being killed on the road each year. Aims To identify factors influencing Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo vehicle strike to help inform mitigation options. Methods Citizen sightings (1998–2000) and 90 road-kills collected over 4.5 years on the Atherton Tablelands, Australia, were examined to determine the causes of vehicle strike in Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo. The spatial distributions of sightings and road-kills were characterised using nearest-neighbour analysis, and the relationship between them was determined using a Bayesian approach that accounted for spatial autocorrelation. Gender, age, weight, season, rainfall, road and verge characteristics, traffic volumes, speed limits and mitigation measures were recorded to assess their influence on road-kill risk. Adequacy of speed limits to prevent collisions along road sections with more than four road-kills per 8 km (hazard zones) was assessed from visibility and stopping distances. Key results Vehicle strikes mainly affected male tree-kangaroos (2–5 years, 5.5–8 kg), occurred where live animals were most frequently sighted and were most likely on roads with narrow verges, low visibility and medium traffic volumes. Speed limits at hazard zones were inadequate to prevent collisions. Few warning signs corresponded with these zones, and road mortalities persisted where they did. Conclusions Unpredictable dispersal of young males and vehicle speeds unsuited to road conditions drive road mortalities in Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo. Because tree-kangaroos do not appear to respond to existing mitigation measures, reducing traffic speeds, and increasing visibility, appear to be the most effective mitigation strategies for reducing tree-kangaroo road mortality. Implications Our findings suggest that tree-kangaroo road-kill can be reduced by reducing speed limits in line with government recommendations and increasing visibility by clearing road verges along sections of road with the highest tree-kangaroo mortality. Warning signage should be re-evaluated to determine whether its effectiveness can be improved.

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