Effects of roads and traffic on animal abundance

道路和交通对动物数量的影响

• 批准号: 197309-2009
• 负责人: Fahrig, Lenore
• 金额: $ 4.52万
• 依托单位: Carleton University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2013-01-01 至 2014-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=523291
• 关键词: Effects; roads; traffic; animal; abundance

Over the past 100 years roads have become a dominant landscape feature and this infrastructure continues to expand. Recently, ecological researchers and transportation planners have become increasingly concerned about the potential effects of roads and traffic on animal populations. Is this concern justified? How strong is the evidence that roads have a large impact on the distribution and abundance of animals? Although many studies have been conducted, almost all of them suffer from limitations in study design, which means it is not possible to estimate the effects of roads separately from the effects of other landscape changes such as deforestation, wetland loss, or agricultural intensification. My first objective is to rectify this situation; I will conduct empirical studies to determine the impact of roads and traffic on animal populations, independent of and in comparison to other landscape changes. Given that roads affect animal abundance, an important question for mitigation of these effects is, what kinds of species are most strongly affected by roads and how are they affected? For example, fencing and wildlife crossings can reduce road effects on species that are affected mainly through traffic mortality, while effects of traffic disturbance on animal abundance can likely only be mitigated by reducing traffic density in the landscape. I develop a set of hypotheses and predictions of how species characteristics - their movement ranges, reproductive rates, natural densities (territory/home range sizes), trophic interactions, and behavioural responses to roads, traffic emissions, and individual vehicles - determine the direction and size of the impact of roads on animal populations. My second objective is then to conduct a set of studies to test these predictions. The proposed research addresses three important applied questions: (i) to what extent should environmental and transportation agencies be concerned about the impacts of roads and traffic on wildlife? (ii) what kinds of species should be monitored for potential effects of roads? and (iii) what will be the most effective mitigation measures to minimize these effects?

在过去的100年里，道路已成为一个主要的景观特征，这一基础设施继续扩大。最近，生态研究人员和交通规划者越来越关注道路和交通对动物种群的潜在影响。这种担心有道理吗？道路对动物的分布和数量有多大影响的证据有多强？虽然已经进行了许多研究，但几乎所有研究都受到研究设计的限制，这意味着不可能将道路的影响与其他景观变化（如森林砍伐，湿地丧失或农业集约化）的影响分开估计。我的第一个目标是纠正这种情况;我将进行实证研究，以确定道路和交通对动物种群的影响，独立于其他景观变化，并与其他景观变化进行比较。鉴于道路影响动物的数量，减轻这些影响的一个重要问题是，哪些物种受道路影响最大，它们是如何受到影响的？例如，围栏和野生动物过境点可以减少道路对主要通过交通死亡率影响的物种的影响，而交通干扰对动物丰度的影响可能只能通过降低景观中的交通密度来减轻。我开发了一套假设和预测的物种特征-它们的运动范围，繁殖率，自然密度（领土/家庭范围大小），营养相互作用，以及对道路，交通排放和个体车辆的行为反应-确定道路对动物种群的影响的方向和大小。我的第二个目标是进行一系列研究来检验这些预测。拟议的研究解决了三个重要的应用问题：（一）在何种程度上应该关注的道路和交通对野生动物的影响，环境和交通机构？(ii)应监测哪些物种以了解道路的潜在影响？及（iii）最有效的缓解措施是甚么？