Vehicle tracks are predator highways in intact landscapes

Raiter, Keren G.; Hobbs, Richard J.; Possingham, Hugh P.; Valentine, Leonie E.; Prober, Suzanne M.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2018.10.011

Cited by 25 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Roads permit wolves to access habitats preferred by caribou, such as bogs and fens, that would typically be difficult for wolves to access (Latham et al 2011). By using roads, red foxes Vulpes vulpes and domestic cats Felis domesticus can penetrate shrublands where they prey on small mammals (Raiter et al 2018). Desert mammals used roads to reach water catchments (Calvert 2015), and vegetation along logging roads facilitates the movement of long‐tailed voles Microtus longicaudus between timber harvest stands (Sullivan & Sullivan 2018).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of ecological factors promoting road use by mammals

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Roads have numerous negative impacts for mammals, but may also serve as attractants due to altered vegetation or provisioning of resources. We reviewed the use of roads and their associated features by mammals, in order to understand the ecological factors contributing to road use. We documented 129 studies that recorded road use by 116 mammalian species, spanning 15 orders and 35 families, in six continents. Carnivora was the most common order (40 species, 34% of all 116 species), followed by Artiodactyla (24 species, 20%) and Rodentia (21 species, 18%). The species were placed in the IUCN categories Least Concern (88 species, 76% of all 116 species), Vulnerable (11 species, 9%), Near Threatened (9 species, 8%), Endangered (6 species, 5%), and Critically Endangered (2 species, 2%). We assigned road use to five ecological categories, reflecting the reason for it, with subcategories where appropriate: (1) communication; (2) foraging (subcategories: anthropogenic food, herbivory, predation, salt, scavenging, water); (3) movement (subcategories: bridges, environmental alterations, habitat connectivity); (4) refuge (subcategories: avoidance, burrowing and denning, cover, roosting); and (5) thermoregulation. Foraging, movement, and refuge were the most common uses. Roads provide a variety of resources to mammals, but road use is highly dynamic in time and space. We suggest that the use of roads by mammals is extensive, both geographically and taxonomically. Road use is likely to influence mammalian ecology while contributing to the risk of collisions with vehicles.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of ecological factors promoting road use by mammals

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In this study, we use a randomized case-control experimental design of longitudinal data collected over a five-year period to examine the effectiveness of boma fortification in reducing carnivore raids on livestock. Linear and man-made landscape features such as roads have also been shown to affect the distribution and activity pattern of carnivores because carnivores use roads to travel across landscapes (Raitera, Hobbsb, Possinghamd, Valentineb, & Proberb, 2018). We structure the analysis via the pursuit of five models ( (Davidson et al, 2012), and hunting success by carnivores is associated with fine-scale spatial features such as proximity to rivers (Hopcraft, Sinclair, & Packer, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Landscape and habitat variables are known to influence site selection where carnivores hunt and kill prey at different scales (Davidson et al, 2012), and hunting success by carnivores is associated with fine-scale spatial features such as proximity to rivers (Hopcraft, Sinclair, & Packer, 2005). Linear and man-made landscape features such as roads have also been shown to affect the distribution and activity pattern of carnivores because carnivores use roads to travel across landscapes (Raitera, Hobbsb, Possinghamd, Valentineb, & Proberb, 2018). Consequently, we predicted that bomas close to rivers, roads, and protected areas would be likely to experience more predation than those faraway from these features.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of livestock depredation and cost‐effectiveness of fortified livestock enclosures in northern Tanzania

Kissui

Kiffner

König

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Human–carnivore conflicts and retaliatory killings contribute to carnivore populations' declines around the world. Strategies to mitigate conflicts have been developed, but their efficacy is rarely assessed in a randomized case–control design. Further, the economic costs prevent the adoption and wide use of conflict mitigation strategies by pastoralists in rural Africa. We examined carnivore (African lion [Panthera leo], leopard [Panthera pardus], spotted hyena [Crocuta crocuta], jackal [Canis mesomelas], and cheetah [Acinonyx jubatus]) raids on fortified (n = 45, total 631 monthly visits) and unfortified (traditional, n = 45, total 521 monthly visits) livestock enclosures (“bomas”) in northern Tanzania. The study aimed to (a) assess the extent of retaliatory killings of major carnivore species due to livestock depredation, (b) describe the spatiotemporal characteristics of carnivore raids on livestock enclosures, (c) analyze whether spatial covariates influenced livestock depredation risk in livestock enclosures, and (d) examine the cost‐effectiveness of livestock enclosure fortification. Results suggest that (a) majority of boma raids by carnivores were caused by spotted hyenas (nearly 90% of all raids), but retaliatory killings mainly targeted lions, (b) carnivore raid attempts were rare at individual households (0.081 raid attempts/month in fortified enclosures and 0.102 raid attempts/month in unfortified enclosures), and (c) spotted hyena raid attempts increased in the wet season compared with the dry season, and owners of fortified bomas reported less hyena raid attempts than owners of unfortified bomas. Landscape and habitat variables tested, did not strongly drive the spatial patterns of spotted hyena raids in livestock bomas. Carnivore raids varied randomly both spatially (village to village) and temporally (year to year). The cost‐benefit analysis suggest that investing in boma fortification yielded positive net present values after two to three years. Thus, enclosure fortification is a cost‐effective strategy to promote coexistence of carnivores and humans.

show abstract

“…Raptors and corvids often use power lines (including the ones that often run parallel to roads) as perching sites, which may increase their ability to detect and use carrion 39 , 40 . Likewise, medium-sized carnivores often use anthropogenic linear features, like power line clearings and road verges, for foraging and/or travel 41 – 43 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of vertebrate scavengers to power line and road rights-of-way and its implications for bird fatality estimates

Bernardino

Bispo

Martins

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Linear infrastructures, such as power lines and roads, are an important source of bird mortality. However, little is known on the potential effect of these infrastructures on local scavenger guilds, their foraging activity and the resulting bird carcass removal patterns. This is an important source of bias in studies aiming to quantify bird fatalities due to linear infrastructures. We used camera-traps to record scavenger identity and persistence patterns of bird carcasses placed close to linear infrastructure and nearby controls in two Mediterranean agricultural regions. We found that linear infrastructure influence on scavenger identity varied depending on the region. Contrary to expectations, linear infrastructure presence had either none or a positive effect on carcass persistence, meaning that carcasses placed within power line or road rights-of-way were not removed faster than the ones placed in controls. We conclude that linear infrastructure effect on vertebrate scavenging patterns is likely to be region-specific, and that reliable correction factors for carcass removal-bias in bird fatality estimates require site-specific experiments to characterize local scavenging processes.

show abstract

Vehicle tracks are predator highways in intact landscapes

Cited by 25 publications

References 38 publications

A review of ecological factors promoting road use by mammals

A review of ecological factors promoting road use by mammals

Patterns of livestock depredation and cost‐effectiveness of fortified livestock enclosures in northern Tanzania

Response of vertebrate scavengers to power line and road rights-of-way and its implications for bird fatality estimates

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About