Abstract
Simple SummaryThe moon is ubiquitous in the night sky and considered an important abiotic factor that influences animal activity. However, little is known about the relationship between moonlight and the daily, monthly, or seasonal frequency of wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVCs). Traditionally, the influence of moonlight on WVCs has been analyzed using the lunar phase (quarters) approach, which evaluates moonlight on a rough scale (only four 25% steps of the visible moon disc and a strict arrangement of phases over time). We used a different approach; we compared WVCs to the actual lunar disc illumination that is based on the specific daily percentage of the visible lunar disk (LDP). Our findings indicated a significant trend of increasing WVC frequencies with increasing LDP at night. We also examined the correlation between the daily numbers of WVCs and LDP for different months and seasons. Positive correlations between LDP and WVCs were stronger at night and during the late autumn–winter months, particularly in December, suggesting the importance of lunar illumination on WVCs. Our study suggests that the LDP approach may provide more possibilities for the evaluation and quantification of WVCs and lunar light relationships than the traditional lunar phase approach. The results can be useful for predicting and reducing WVCs at different times of the lunar illumination cycle and in different seasons.We investigated the relationship between lunar illumination based on the percentage of the visible lunar disk (LDP) and the frequency of wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVCs) in Lithuania. We analyzed WVC frequency during ten 10% LDP intervals to more precisely reflect the relationship between LDP and WVC. The 10% LDP interval approach showed a significant trend of increasing WVC frequencies with an increasing LDP at night. We also examined the correlation between the daily numbers of WVCs and LDP for different months and seasons. The relationship seemed to be stronger at night and during the late autumn–winter months, particularly in December, suggesting the importance of lunar illumination on WVCs. There was a weak positive correlation between LDP and overall daily number of WVCs (rs = 0.091; p < 0.001) and between LDP and night WVCs (rs = 0.104; p < 0.001). We found significant positive correlations for winter (December–February) (rs = 0.118; p = 0.012) and autumn (August–November) (rs = 0.127; p = 0.007). Our study suggests that the LDP interval approach may provide more possibilities for the evaluation and quantification of WVCs and lunar light relationships than the traditional lunar phase approach.
Highlights
Increasing urbanization and the subsequent construction and increased use of roadways have increased the probability of human–wildlife interactions that are costly for all species involved [1,2]
We found no significant differences in wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVCs) per day between the lunar phases during the day phases of waning crescent, waxing crescent, waxing gibbous, and waning gibbous (Mann–Whitney U test: all p > 0.05) (Figure 1B)
Both methods allowed us to accept our first hypothesis that increasing lunar illumination, expressed by an increasing visible lunar disk percentage, was correlated with a higher number of WVCs, though trend lines were rather flat and correlation coefficients were low
Summary
Increasing urbanization and the subsequent construction and increased use of roadways (both large and small) have increased the probability of human–wildlife interactions that are costly for all species involved [1,2]. Wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVCs) continue to be a serious problem for both humans and wildlife species near urban areas, at the wildland–urban interface, and along all roadways [3,4,5]. In Europe, more than 500,000 collisions with ungulates occur annually, resulting in approximately 30,000 injuries and an economic cost of $1 billion [7]. The estimated total economic loss per year in Lithuania due to over 4000 annual WVCs is approximately 6,000,000 euros. This amount does not include losses incurred due to injuries and deaths, which would significantly increase the annual cost of WVCs. Every year, more than 100 people are injured and at least one person is killed due to WVCs [4]. While WVCs have been documented to occur at all times of the day (24 h period), the majority of WVCs with large animals (primarily ungulates) occur at night [18,19,20]
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