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Kouris AD, Christopoulos A, Vlachopoulos K, Christopoulou A, Dimitrakopoulos PG, Zevgolis YG. Spatiotemporal Patterns of Reptile and Amphibian Road Fatalities in a Natura 2000 Area: A 12-Year Monitoring of the Lake Karla Mediterranean Wetland. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:708. [PMID: 38473093 DOI: 10.3390/ani14050708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2024] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
The pervasive expansion of human-engineered infrastructure, particularly roads, has fundamentally reshaped landscapes, profoundly affecting wildlife interactions. Wildlife-vehicle collisions, a common consequence of this intricate interplay, frequently result in fatalities, extending their detrimental impact within Protected Areas (PAs). Among the faunal groups most susceptible to road mortality, reptiles and amphibians stand at the forefront, highlighting the urgent need for global comprehensive mitigation strategies. In Greece, where road infrastructure expansion has encroached upon a significant portion of the nation's PAs, the plight of these road-vulnerable species demands immediate attention. To address this critical issue, we present a multifaceted and holistic approach to investigating and assessing the complex phenomenon of herpetofauna road mortality within the unique ecological context of the Lake Karla plain, a rehabilitated wetland complex within a PA. To unravel the intricacies of herpetofauna road mortality in the Lake Karla plain, we conducted a comprehensive 12-year investigation from 2008 to 2019. Employing a combination of statistical modeling and spatial analysis techniques, we aimed to identify the species most susceptible to these encounters, their temporal and seasonal variations, and the ecological determinants of their roadkill patterns. We documented a total of 340 roadkill incidents involving 14 herpetofauna species in the Lake Karla's plain, with reptiles, particularly snakes, being more susceptible, accounting for over 60% of roadkill occurrences. Moreover, we found that environmental and road-related factors play a crucial role in influencing roadkill incidents, while spatial analysis techniques, including Kernel Density Estimation, the Getis-Ord Gi*, and the Kernel Density Estimation plus methods revealed critical areas, particularly in the south-eastern region of Lake Karla's plain, offering guidance for targeted interventions to address both individual and collective risks associated with roadkill incidents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandros D Kouris
- Biodiversity Conservation Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, 81132 Mytilene, Greece
| | - Apostolos Christopoulos
- Department of Zoology and Marine Biology, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15772 Athens, Greece
| | - Konstantinos Vlachopoulos
- Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, 38446 Volos, Greece
| | | | - Panayiotis G Dimitrakopoulos
- Biodiversity Conservation Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, 81132 Mytilene, Greece
| | - Yiannis G Zevgolis
- Biodiversity Conservation Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, 81132 Mytilene, Greece
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Coba-Males MA, Medrano-Vizcaíno P, Enríquez S, Brito-Zapata D, Martin-Solano S, Ocaña-Mayorga S, Carrillo-Bilbao GA, Narváez W, Salas JA, Arrivillaga-Henríquez J, González-Suárez M, Poveda A. From roads to biobanks: Roadkill animals as a valuable source of genetic data. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0290836. [PMID: 38060478 PMCID: PMC10703236 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
To protect biodiversity we must understand its structure and composition including the bacteria and microparasites associated with wildlife, which may pose risks to human health. However, acquiring this knowledge often presents challenges, particularly in areas of high biodiversity where there are many undescribed and poorly studied species and funding resources can be limited. A solution to fill this knowledge gap is sampling roadkill (animals that die on roads as a result of collisions with circulating vehicles). These specimens can help characterize local wildlife and their associated parasites with fewer ethical and logistical challenges compared to traditional specimen collection. Here we test this approach by analyzing 817 tissue samples obtained from 590 roadkill vertebrate specimens (Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves and Mammalia) collected in roads within the Tropical Andes of Ecuador. First, we tested if the quantity and quality of recovered DNA varied across roadkill specimens collected at different times since death, exploring if decomposition affected the potential to identify vertebrate species and associated microorganisms. Second, we compared DNA stability across taxa and tissues to identify potential limitations and offer recommendations for future work. Finally, we illustrate how these samples can aid in taxonomic identification and parasite detection. Our study shows that sampling roadkill can help study biodiversity. DNA was recovered and amplified (allowing species identification and parasite detection) from roadkill even 120 hours after death, although risk of degradation increased overtime. DNA was extracted from all vertebrate classes but in smaller quantities and with lower quality from amphibians. We recommend sampling liver if possible as it produced the highest amounts of DNA (muscle produced the lowest). Additional testing of this approach in areas with different environmental and traffic conditions is needed, but our results show that sampling roadkill specimens can help detect and potentially monitor biodiversity and could be a valuable approach to create biobanks and preserve genetic data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Alejandro Coba-Males
- Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad, Zoonosis y Salud Pública (GIBCIZ), Instituto de Investigación en Zoonosis (CIZ), Facultad de Ciencias Químicas (FCQ), Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Pablo Medrano-Vizcaíno
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
- Universidad Regional Amazónica IKIAM, Grupo de Investigación Población y Ambiente, Tena, Ecuador
- Red Ecuatoriana para el Monitoreo de Fauna Atropellada-REMFA, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Sandra Enríquez
- Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad, Zoonosis y Salud Pública (GIBCIZ), Instituto de Investigación en Zoonosis (CIZ), Facultad de Ciencias Químicas (FCQ), Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - David Brito-Zapata
- Red Ecuatoriana para el Monitoreo de Fauna Atropellada-REMFA, Quito, Ecuador
- Instituto iBIOTROP, Museo de Zoología & Laboratorio de Zoología Terrestre, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Sarah Martin-Solano
- Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Carrera Ingeniería en Biotecnología, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas—ESPE, Sangolquí, Ecuador
| | - Sofía Ocaña-Mayorga
- Centro de Investigación para la Salud en América Latina, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Gabriel Alberto Carrillo-Bilbao
- Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad, Zoonosis y Salud Pública (GIBCIZ), Instituto de Investigación en Zoonosis (CIZ), Facultad de Ciencias Químicas (FCQ), Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Wilmer Narváez
- Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad, Zoonosis y Salud Pública (GIBCIZ), Instituto de Investigación en Zoonosis (CIZ), Facultad de Ciencias Químicas (FCQ), Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Jaime Antonio Salas
- Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Carrera de Biología, Universidad de Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Ecuador
| | - Jazzmín Arrivillaga-Henríquez
- Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad, Zoonosis y Salud Pública (GIBCIZ), Instituto de Investigación en Zoonosis (CIZ), Facultad de Ciencias Químicas (FCQ), Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Manuela González-Suárez
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
| | - Ana Poveda
- Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad, Zoonosis y Salud Pública (GIBCIZ), Instituto de Investigación en Zoonosis (CIZ), Facultad de Ciencias Químicas (FCQ), Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
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Praill LC, Eppley TM, Shanee S, Cunneyworth PMK, Abra FD, Allgas N, Al-Razi H, Campera M, Cheyne SM, Collinson W, Donati G, Linden B, Manson S, Maria M, Morcatty TQ, Nekaris KAI, Oklander LI, Nijman V, Svensson MS. Road Infrastructure and Primate Conservation: Introducing the Global Primate Roadkill Database. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:ani13101692. [PMID: 37238122 DOI: 10.3390/ani13101692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
As road infrastructure networks rapidly expand globally, especially in the tropics, previously continuous habitats are being fragmented, resulting in more frequent wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC). Primates are widespread throughout many sub-/tropical countries, and as their habitats are fragmented, they are increasingly at risk of WVC. We created the Global Primate Roadkill Database (GPRD), the largest available standardized database of primate roadkill incidents. We obtained data from published papers, un-published and citizen science databases, anecdotal reports, news reports, and social media posts. Here, we describe the collection methods for the GPRD and present the most up-to-date version of the database in full. For each primate roadkill incident, we recorded the species killed, the exact location, and the year and month the roadkill was observed. At the time of publication, the GPRD includes 2862 individual primate roadkill records from 41 countries. As primates range in more than twice as many countries, the absence of data from these countries is not necessarily indicative of a lack of primate vehicular collisions. Given the value of these data for addressing both local and global research questions, we encourage conservationists and citizen scientists to contribute to the GPRD so that, together, we can better understand the impact road infrastructure has on primates and evaluate measures which may help mitigate risk-prone areas or species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura C Praill
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
- Pandrillus Cameroon, Limbe Wildlife Centre, Limbe P.O. Box 878, Cameroon
| | - Timothy M Eppley
- Wildlife Madagascar, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar
- Department of Anthropology, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
- Conservation Science and Wildlife Health, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027, USA
| | - Sam Shanee
- Asociación Neotropical Primate Conservation Perú, Moyobamba 22001, Peru
- Neotropical Primate Conservation, Cornwall PL11 3JQ, UK
| | | | - Fernanda D Abra
- Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute-Center for Conservation and Sustainability, Washington, DC 20560, USA
- ViaFAUNA Estudos Ambientais, São Paulo 04125-120, SP, Brazil
- Instituto Pró-Carnívoros, Atibaia 12945-010, SP, Brazil
| | - Néstor Allgas
- Asociación Neotropical Primate Conservation Perú, Moyobamba 22001, Peru
| | - Hassan Al-Razi
- Bangladesh Slow Loris Research and Conservation Project, 531/2, Shahidbagh, Dhaka 1217, Bangladesh
| | - Marco Campera
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Susan M Cheyne
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Wendy Collinson
- Faculty of Science, Engineering and Agriculture, University of Venda, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa
- The Endangered Wildlife Trust, Wierda Park 0149, South Africa
| | - Giuseppe Donati
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Birthe Linden
- Faculty of Science, Engineering and Agriculture, University of Venda, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa
- Lajuma Research Centre, Louis Trichardt 0920, South Africa
| | - Sophie Manson
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
- Little Fireface Project, Chipaganti, Cisurupan, Garut 44163, Indonesia
| | - Marjan Maria
- Bangladesh Slow Loris Research and Conservation Project, 531/2, Shahidbagh, Dhaka 1217, Bangladesh
| | - Thais Q Morcatty
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - K A I Nekaris
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
- Little Fireface Project, Chipaganti, Cisurupan, Garut 44163, Indonesia
| | - Luciana I Oklander
- Grupo de Investigación en Genética Aplicada, UNAM-CONICET, Posadas N3304, Argentina
- Neotropical Primate Conservation Argentina, Puerto Iguazú N3370, Argentina
| | - Vincent Nijman
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - Magdalena S Svensson
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
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