Comparison of environmental, biological and anthropogenic causes of wildlife–vehicle collisions among three large herbivore species. Issue 1 (17th January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Saint‐Andrieux, Christine; Calenge, Clément; Bonenfant, Christophe
• Is Part Of: Population ecology. Volume 62:Issue 1(2020)
• Page Start: 64
• Page End: 79
• Publication Date: 2020-01-17
• Subjects: abundance -- car accidents -- habitat fragmentation -- ungulates -- road ecology; Animal populations -- Periodicals; Insect populations -- Periodicals; 591.788
• DOI: 10.1002/1438-390X.12029
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1438-3896

Abstract

Abstract: Wildlife–vehicle collisions are of increasing concern with regards to the continuous and accelerating anthropogenic development. Preventing and mitigating collisions with wildlife will require a better understanding of the environmental and biological drivers of collision risks. Because species of large mammals differ in terms of food requirements, habitat selection and movement behaviors we tested, at the management unit level, if the density of collisions with red deer, roe deer and wild boar differed in terms of spatial distribution and explanatory factors. From 20, 275 documented collisions in France between years 1990 and 2006, we found marked differences in the most influential environmental factors accounting for the density of collisions among the three large herbivore species. The effect of road density was higher for the red deer than for the two other species and did not level off at our spatial‐scale of observation. As expected, the annual hunting harvest—interpreted as a proxy of population abundance—was positively associated with the density of collisions for all species, being the strongest for red deer. While the collision density decreased with the proportion of forest in a management unit for wild boar, it increased with the fragmentation of forest for red deer that commute among forest patches between day and night. To reduce the number of wildlife–vehicle collisions, our results suggest to generalize road fencing and/or a control of abundance of large herbivore populations. Mitigation measures should target units where the collision risk is the highest for the most problematic species. Abstract : Increasing wildlife‐vehicle collisions are substantial financial burden for the society, in addition to be a threat to biodiversity. Species may, however, be affected differently because of their biology and habitat use. Using records in France, we document how large‐scale landscape compositions are meaningful predictors of the density of wildlife‐vehicle collisions, which patterns are contrasting for wild boar, roe deer and red deer. Our results call for consideration of species oriented mitigation measures.