Are protected areas truly protected? The impact of road traffic on vertebrate fauna.

The extension of road networks is considered one of the major factors affecting fauna survival. Roadkill has been documented widely and affects all taxonomic groups. Although roadkill is associated mainly with traffic density, some life-history traits of species and the area surrounding roads are expected to modify number of roadkills both taxonomically and geographically. Here we studied the number of roadkills of vertebrates in an extensive region in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. We surveyed 820 km of 41 roads in two different seasons (spring and autumn), that differ in traffic intensity. In addition, we covered zones with distinct climatic characteristics and levels of protection of the surrounding habitats. Amphibians showed the highest number of roadkills whereas reptiles, birds and mammals had similar rates. General Linear Model tests showed no differences in roadkills by climatic region; however, differences in number of roadkills were linked to protection status, with the highest number of casualties in highly protected areas. Redundancy Analysis demonstrated that the number of amphibians and reptiles killed was associated with roads in highly protected areas whereas that of mammals and birds was linked to unprotected areas. Protected areas often receive many visitors, which in turn may increase wildlife casualties as a result of greater traffic density. We recommend that correction measures be taken to reduce the high number of vertebrate fauna killed along roads that cross protected areas. Palabras clave: Fauna casualty, Habitat fragmentation, Mortality, Vertebrate

Datos y Recursos

Cite como

Garriga N. Santos X. Montori A. Richter-Boix A. Franch M. y Llorente G.A. Are protected areas truly protected? The impact of road traffic on vertebrate fauna. Springer, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-012-0332-0

Clipboard Icon
Recuperado: 18 Jan 2025 14:22:18
RIS BibTeX

Metadatos
Descargar
DCAT-AP/NTI-RISP

Información básica
Tipo de recurso Texto
Fecha de creación 02-12-2024
Fecha de última modificación 18-01-2025
Mostrar histórico de cambios
Identificador de los metadatos e25747a9-ab15-5713-845e-201d0161cb51
Idioma de los metadatos Español
Temáticas (NTI-RISP)
Categoría del conjunto de alto valor (HVD)
Categoría temática ISO 19115 biota
URI de palabras clave
Información bibliográfica
Nombre del autor Garriga, N., Santos, X., Montori, A., Richter-Boix, A., Franch, M. y Llorente, G.A.
Nombre del editor Springer
Identificador alternativo DOI: 10.1007/s10531-012-0332-0
Identificador del autor
Email del autor
Web del autor
Procedencia
Declaración de linaje
Perfil de Metadatos
Notas sobre la versión
Versión