Road mortality of water snakes in light of landscape structure and traffic intensity in north-eastern Hungary

Abstract

Road mortality can be a serious threat to different animals, including snakes. However, mortality patterns can vary between species, intraspecific groups, locations and time. We compared the number of road-killed individuals (carcasses) of two semiaquatic water snakes (Natrix natrix and N. tessellata) on 58 km of road sections bordered by an active floodplain and a flood-protected former floodplain on one side and mountainous areas on the other in NE Hungary based on surveys conducted once every two weeks in three non-consecutive years. The results showed high road mortality of snakes, with a spring and an autumn peak corresponding to the times when snakes emerge from and return to hibernating sites. The results show that small-scale spatial differences in road mortality were mediated by landscape structure along the road, while the effects of traffic volume, flood regime and the age and sex of the individuals were negligible. For conservation, the study suggests that establishing culvert passages under the road and/or artificial hibernating sites on the floodplain-side of the roads in critical sections can be promising in reducing road-related mortality.