How Long Do the Dead Survive on the Road? Carcass Persistence Probability and Implications for Road-Kill Monitoring Surveys

Sara M Santos,António Mira,Filipe Carvalho,Brock Fenton

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0025383

Abstract

BackgroundRoad mortality is probably the best-known and visible impact of roads upon wildlife. Although several factors influence road-kill counts, carcass persistence time is considered the most important determinant underlying underestimates of road mortality. The present study aims to describe and model carcass persistence variability on the road for different taxonomic groups under different environmental conditions throughout the year; and also to assess the effect of sampling frequency on the relative variation in road-kill estimates registered within a survey.Methodology/Principal FindingsDaily surveys of road-killed vertebrates were conducted over one year along four road sections with different traffic volumes. Survival analysis was then used to i) describe carcass persistence timings for overall and for specific animal groups; ii) assess optimal sampling designs according to research objectives; and iii) model the influence of road, animal and weather factors on carcass persistence probabilities. Most animal carcasses persisted on the road for the first day only, with some groups disappearing at very high rates. The advisable periodicity of road monitoring that minimizes bias in road mortality estimates is daily monitoring for bats (in the morning) and lizards (in the afternoon), daily monitoring for toads, small birds, small mammals, snakes, salamanders, and lagomorphs; 1 day-interval (alternate days) for large birds, birds of prey, hedgehogs, and freshwater turtles; and 2 day-interval for carnivores. Multiple factors influenced the persistence probabilities of vertebrate carcasses on the road. Overall, the persistence was much lower for small animals, on roads with lower traffic volumes, for carcasses located on road lanes, and during humid conditions and high temperatures during the wet season and dry seasons, respectively.Conclusion/SignificanceThe guidance given here on monitoring frequencies is particularly relevant to provide conservation and transportation agencies with accurate numbers of road-kills, realistic mitigation measures, and detailed designs for road monitoring programs.

Highlights

Roads can exert severe impacts upon the long-term viability of animal populations [1,2], either through direct killings that decrease the number of individuals, or through habitat loss and fragmentation, and barrier effects increasing isolation of populations [3,4,5]
Among the factors that influence the accuracy of estimates, the time of carcass persistence, defined as the time each animal carcass remained on the road, has been considered the most important factor inducing bias in road mortality estimates [18]
Maximum persistence time varied among different taxonomic groups, ranging from 4 days to 158 days

Summary

Introduction

Roads can exert severe impacts upon the long-term viability of animal populations [1,2], either through direct killings that decrease the number of individuals (road mortality), or through habitat loss and fragmentation, and barrier effects increasing isolation of populations [3,4,5]. The need for effective mitigation measures to minimize impacts of existing and future roads on wildlife populations [6,7,8,9] has lead to an increasing body of research relating the spatial patterns of road-kills with both ecological and road features [6,10,11,12,13] These studies rely primarily on estimates of road mortality, which are often based on a particular sampling scheme designed for a particular species, raising many questions regarding their accuracy and utility for comparative purposes and for guiding monitoring and mitigation plans targeting multiple species. The present study aims to describe and model carcass persistence variability on the road for different taxonomic groups under different environmental conditions throughout the year; and to assess the effect of sampling frequency on the relative variation in road-kill estimates registered within a survey

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion