Road-kills in New Zealand: long-term effects track population changes and reveal colour blindness
Road-kills were recorded at random throughout New Zealand, on 96359 km of roads, avoiding towns and busy motorways, from 1963-2018. Traffic increase from 1.04 m to 4.33 million vehicles during the study had little effect on mortality, even at the greater traffic density in the North Island. Seasonal...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1a8d29629e0f49d8b607337e53838dfe 2024-02-04T10:04:11+01:00 Road-kills in New Zealand: long-term effects track population changes and reveal colour blindness John E.C. Flux Piotr Tryjanowski Piotr Zduniak 2022-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/1a8d29629e0f49d8b607337e53838dfe EN eng University of Kansas Libraries https://journals.ku.edu/EuroJEcol/article/view/18567 https://doaj.org/toc/1339-8474 1339-8474 https://doaj.org/article/1a8d29629e0f49d8b607337e53838dfe European Journal of Ecology, Vol 8, Iss 2 (2022) Wildlife road-kills 1963-2018 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles 2024-01-07T01:47:03Z Road-kills were recorded at random throughout New Zealand, on 96359 km of roads, avoiding towns and busy motorways, from 1963-2018. Traffic increase from 1.04 m to 4.33 million vehicles during the study had little effect on mortality, even at the greater traffic density in the North Island. Seasonal changes measured on 8435 km (151 trips) between Lower Hutt and Otaki from 1985-2015 showed lowest mortality in winter. Major differences in species identification between two independent observers on the same route, from 2009-2014, resulted from one being red/green colourblind. Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) numbers dipped briefly in the 1970s, peaked in the 1990s, and have declined since then where there has been widespread poisoning to protect trees, birds, and limit bovine TB. Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) increased steadily after control was lifted in the 1980s and now dominate the road-kills; the effect of RHD, introduced in 1997, does not register, probably because it causes short-term local oscillations. Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) numbers show no clear trend and, unlike the other species, North and South Island patterns differ; the lower numbers in the South may reflect the cooler climate. Brown hares (Lepus europaeus) remain relatively stable, with a doubling in numbers since the 1980s in parallel with rabbits. The predators, cats (Felis catus) and mustelids (Mustela furo, M.erminea, M. nivalis), followed their prey increase until the 1990s when extensive predator control began; they then declined, although rabbit and rat (Rattus rattus, R. norvegicus) numbers continued to rise. In the 1950-60s, far more live mammals were being seen on and from roads, and adaptations to traffic have evolved. These historical records may be useful to assess future changes in road-kill following the adoption of silent electric cars, driverless vehicles, and public transport. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles New Zealand |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Wildlife road-kills 1963-2018 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Wildlife road-kills 1963-2018 Ecology QH540-549.5 John E.C. Flux Piotr Tryjanowski Piotr Zduniak Road-kills in New Zealand: long-term effects track population changes and reveal colour blindness |
topic_facet |
Wildlife road-kills 1963-2018 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Road-kills were recorded at random throughout New Zealand, on 96359 km of roads, avoiding towns and busy motorways, from 1963-2018. Traffic increase from 1.04 m to 4.33 million vehicles during the study had little effect on mortality, even at the greater traffic density in the North Island. Seasonal changes measured on 8435 km (151 trips) between Lower Hutt and Otaki from 1985-2015 showed lowest mortality in winter. Major differences in species identification between two independent observers on the same route, from 2009-2014, resulted from one being red/green colourblind. Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) numbers dipped briefly in the 1970s, peaked in the 1990s, and have declined since then where there has been widespread poisoning to protect trees, birds, and limit bovine TB. Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) increased steadily after control was lifted in the 1980s and now dominate the road-kills; the effect of RHD, introduced in 1997, does not register, probably because it causes short-term local oscillations. Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) numbers show no clear trend and, unlike the other species, North and South Island patterns differ; the lower numbers in the South may reflect the cooler climate. Brown hares (Lepus europaeus) remain relatively stable, with a doubling in numbers since the 1980s in parallel with rabbits. The predators, cats (Felis catus) and mustelids (Mustela furo, M.erminea, M. nivalis), followed their prey increase until the 1990s when extensive predator control began; they then declined, although rabbit and rat (Rattus rattus, R. norvegicus) numbers continued to rise. In the 1950-60s, far more live mammals were being seen on and from roads, and adaptations to traffic have evolved. These historical records may be useful to assess future changes in road-kill following the adoption of silent electric cars, driverless vehicles, and public transport. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
John E.C. Flux Piotr Tryjanowski Piotr Zduniak |
author_facet |
John E.C. Flux Piotr Tryjanowski Piotr Zduniak |
author_sort |
John E.C. Flux |
title |
Road-kills in New Zealand: long-term effects track population changes and reveal colour blindness |
title_short |
Road-kills in New Zealand: long-term effects track population changes and reveal colour blindness |
title_full |
Road-kills in New Zealand: long-term effects track population changes and reveal colour blindness |
title_fullStr |
Road-kills in New Zealand: long-term effects track population changes and reveal colour blindness |
title_full_unstemmed |
Road-kills in New Zealand: long-term effects track population changes and reveal colour blindness |
title_sort |
road-kills in new zealand: long-term effects track population changes and reveal colour blindness |
publisher |
University of Kansas Libraries |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/1a8d29629e0f49d8b607337e53838dfe |
geographic |
New Zealand |
geographic_facet |
New Zealand |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
European Journal of Ecology, Vol 8, Iss 2 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://journals.ku.edu/EuroJEcol/article/view/18567 https://doaj.org/toc/1339-8474 1339-8474 https://doaj.org/article/1a8d29629e0f49d8b607337e53838dfe |
_version_ |
1789972248691474432 |