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Wu Q, Sun T, Zhao Y, Yu C, Hu J, Li Z. Temporal and spatial patterns of small vertebrate roadkill in a supercity of eastern China. PeerJ 2023; 11:e16251. [PMID: 37842032 PMCID: PMC10569179 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
An assessment of animal roadkill can help develop road mitigation measures. This article is the first to report data on animal-vehicle collisions (AVCs) in Nanjing, a supercity in eastern China. The research was conducted on a 224.27 km stretch of nine roads in Nanjing. In the period, between November 2020 and October 2021, 26 fortnightly monitoring missions were conducted to gather roadkill carcasses so that we could analyze their temporal and spatial distribution patterns. A total of 259 carcasses were collected, comprising 22 different species, of which 46.42% were mammals and 48.81% were birds. Cats and dogs are the most roadkill mammals, and blackbirds and sparrows are the most roadkill birds. The temporal analysis demonstrated that the peak of vertebrate roadkill occurred from May to July. Spatial analysis showed that the distribution patterns of vertebrate roadkill on different roads varied with a generally non-random distribution and aggregation. By mapping accidents using kernel density analysis, we were able to pinpoint locations that were at high risk for roadkill. Due to the fortnightly survey, our results would underestimate the casualties, even if, our study suggests that the problem of car accidents due to animals should be a cause for concern, and the results of the analysis of temporal and spatial patterns contribute to the establishment of mitigation measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiong Wu
- Lab of Animal Behavior & Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Taozhu Sun
- Lab of Animal Behavior & Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yumeng Zhao
- Lab of Animal Behavior & Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Cong Yu
- Lab of Animal Behavior & Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Junhua Hu
- Chengdu Institute of BIology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China
| | - Zhongqiu Li
- Lab of Animal Behavior & Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
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Mayer M, Coleman Nielsen J, Elmeros M, Sunde P. Understanding spatio-temporal patterns of deer-vehicle collisions to improve roadkill mitigation. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2021; 295:113148. [PMID: 34186315 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2021] [Revised: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Vehicles collide with hundreds of thousands of deer on European roads each year. This leads to animal deaths and suffering, economic damage and risks for human safety, making the reduction of road mortality a major field in conservation biology. In order to successfully reduce roadkill, we need improved knowledge regarding spatio-temporal patterns of deer-vehicle collisions (DVCs) on a landscape scale. Here, we analyzed >85,000 DVCs collected over 17 years in Denmark to investigate changes in the number of DVCs over time and to find spatio-temporal patterns of DVC occurrence. We used a use-availability design - originally developed for habitat selection analyses - to compare DVCs involving roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and fallow deer (Dama dama) with random road locations on a landscape scale. This approach enabled us to combine temporal (seasonal and diel variation), spatial (land cover, road density and type) and other relevant variables (deer population density, traffic, and deer activity) within the same analysis. We found that factors related to infrastructure and land cover were most important in explaining patterns of DVCs, but seasonal and diel changes, deer activity, and population density were also important in predicting the occurrence of DVCs. Importantly, patterns of DVCs were largely similar between the three deer species, with more DVCs occurring at intermediate traffic density, increasing forest cover, during dusk and dawn, and with increasing deer activity and population density. The strong and consistent patterns found here will allow the development of flexible mitigation measures. We propose that our findings could be used to develop a spatio-temporally flexible warning system for smartphones and navigation systems that is based on existing map providers, making it a widely available and cheap mitigation measure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Mayer
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
| | | | - Morten Elmeros
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Peter Sunde
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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Lunar Phases and Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions: Application of the Lunar Disk Percentage Method. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11030908. [PMID: 33810052 PMCID: PMC8005019 DOI: 10.3390/ani11030908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2021] [Revised: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary The moon is ubiquitous in the night sky and considered an important abiotic factor that influences animal activity. However, little is known about the relationship between moonlight and the daily, monthly, or seasonal frequency of wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVCs). Traditionally, the influence of moonlight on WVCs has been analyzed using the lunar phase (quarters) approach, which evaluates moonlight on a rough scale (only four 25% steps of the visible moon disc and a strict arrangement of phases over time). We used a different approach; we compared WVCs to the actual lunar disc illumination that is based on the specific daily percentage of the visible lunar disk (LDP). Our findings indicated a significant trend of increasing WVC frequencies with increasing LDP at night. We also examined the correlation between the daily numbers of WVCs and LDP for different months and seasons. Positive correlations between LDP and WVCs were stronger at night and during the late autumn–winter months, particularly in December, suggesting the importance of lunar illumination on WVCs. Our study suggests that the LDP approach may provide more possibilities for the evaluation and quantification of WVCs and lunar light relationships than the traditional lunar phase approach. The results can be useful for predicting and reducing WVCs at different times of the lunar illumination cycle and in different seasons. Abstract We investigated the relationship between lunar illumination based on the percentage of the visible lunar disk (LDP) and the frequency of wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVCs) in Lithuania. We analyzed WVC frequency during ten 10% LDP intervals to more precisely reflect the relationship between LDP and WVC. The 10% LDP interval approach showed a significant trend of increasing WVC frequencies with an increasing LDP at night. We also examined the correlation between the daily numbers of WVCs and LDP for different months and seasons. The relationship seemed to be stronger at night and during the late autumn–winter months, particularly in December, suggesting the importance of lunar illumination on WVCs. There was a weak positive correlation between LDP and overall daily number of WVCs (rs = 0.091; p < 0.001) and between LDP and night WVCs (rs = 0.104; p < 0.001). We found significant positive correlations for winter (December–February) (rs = 0.118; p = 0.012) and autumn (August–November) (rs = 0.127; p = 0.007). Our study suggests that the LDP interval approach may provide more possibilities for the evaluation and quantification of WVCs and lunar light relationships than the traditional lunar phase approach.
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Bíl M, Kušta T, Andrášik R, Cícha V, Brodská H, Ježek M, Keken Z. No clear effect of odour repellents on roe deer behaviour in the vicinity of roads. WILDLIFE BIOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.2981/wlb.00744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michal Bíl
- M. Bíl ✉ , R. Andrášik and V. Cícha, CDV – Transport Research Centre, Líšeňská 33a, Cz-636 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Tomáš Kušta
- T. Kušta, H. Brodská and M. Ježek, Czech Univ. of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Richard Andrášik
- M. Bíl ✉ , R. Andrášik and V. Cícha, CDV – Transport Research Centre, Líšeňská 33a, Cz-636 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Vojtěch Cícha
- M. Bíl ✉ , R. Andrášik and V. Cícha, CDV – Transport Research Centre, Líšeňská 33a, Cz-636 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Hana Brodská
- T. Kušta, H. Brodská and M. Ježek, Czech Univ. of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Miloš Ježek
- T. Kušta, H. Brodská and M. Ježek, Czech Univ. of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Zdeněk Keken
- Z. Keken, Czech Univ. of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
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Ignatavičius G, Ulevičius A, Valskys V, Trakimas G, Galinskaitė L, Busher PE. Temporal patterns of ungulate-vehicle collisions in a sparsely populated country. EUR J WILDLIFE RES 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10344-020-01396-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Bíl M, Andrášik R, Duľa M, Sedoník J. On reliable identification of factors influencing wildlife-vehicle collisions along roads. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2019; 237:297-304. [PMID: 30807975 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.02.076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Revised: 02/13/2019] [Accepted: 02/16/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) pose a serious global issue. Factors influencing the occurrence of WVC along roads can be divided in general into two groups: spatially random and non-random. The latter group consists of local factors which act at specific places, whereas the former group consists of globally acting factors. We analyzed 27,142 WVC records (roe deer and wild boar), which took place between 2012 and 2016 on Czech roads. Statistically significant clusters of WVCs occurrence were identified using the clustering (KDE+) approach. Local factors were consequently measured for the 75 most important clusters as cases and the same number of single WVCs outside clusters as controls, and identified by the use of odds ratio, Bayesian inference and logistic regression. Subsequently, a simulation study randomly distributing WVC in clusters into case and control groups was performed to highlight the importance of the clustering approach. All statistically significant clusters with roe deer (wild boar) contained 34% (27%) of all records related to this species. The overall length of the respective clusters covered 0.982% (0.177%) of the analyzed road network. The results suggest that the most pronounced signal identifying the statistically significant local factors is achieved when WVCs were divided according to their occurrence in clusters and outside clusters. We conclude that application of a clustering approach should precede regression modeling in order to reliably identify the local factors influencing spatially non-random occurrence of WVCs along the transportation infrastructure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Bíl
- CDV - Transport Research Centre, Líšeňská 33a, 636 00, Brno, Czechia.
| | - Richard Andrášik
- CDV - Transport Research Centre, Líšeňská 33a, 636 00, Brno, Czechia
| | - Martin Duľa
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, Brno, 613 00, Czechia
| | - Jiří Sedoník
- CDV - Transport Research Centre, Líšeňská 33a, 636 00, Brno, Czechia
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