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Ball S, Caravaggi A, Keogh G, Butler F. Dublin Hareport: The movement ecology and airfield interactions of resident, airside hares, at an international airport. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11490. [PMID: 38826164 PMCID: PMC11139675 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/16/2024] [Indexed: 06/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Understanding how animals move and use space within an environment is vital for the development and implementation of effective management actions. Within airfield environments, animal movement can present a substantial risk to aircraft, resulting in wildlife-aircraft collisions (strikes) if animals enter into the manoeuvring areas of the airfield, namely the runways, taxiways and areas that connect the two (hereafter collectively referred to as 'tarmacked areas'). However, reliable ecological data to inform management decisions can be difficult to obtain in such environments, due to access restrictions. Here, we present the first GPS data describing the movement ecology and spatial use of mammals on an airfield - Irish hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus), at Dublin International Airport - through the deployment of five GPS collars. A total of 4571 tarmacked area interactions were recorded between December 2021 and August 2022, with all five hares engaging with tarmacked areas. Between December and August, the highest number of interactions were recorded for the month of April (n = 1073), followed by March (n = 703). There was a mean of 4.3 (range: 0-65) interactions with tarmacked areas, per hare, per day throughout the study period. Hares most frequently engaged with tarmacked areas between 05:00 and 07:59, with some seasonal variation. The greatest cumulative distance moved per month was observed in May (505 km) and April (503 km). We identified that the average home range size of collared hares was 2.8 km2 (±SD 0.1 km2), based on 95% Kernel Utilisation Distribution. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the hares incorporate tarmacked area habitat types into their home ranges with up to 13% of one individual's movements incorporating these areas. Our study demonstrates the suitability of GPS tracking devices for studying the movement ecology of high-risk mammal species at airfields in order to inform airside management practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha Ball
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science, Distillery FieldsUniversity College CorkCorkIreland
- Dublin AirportAirport Fire and Rescue ServiceDublinIreland
- Department of Natural Sciences Atlantic TechnologicMarine & Freshwater Research CentreGalwayIreland
| | - Anthony Caravaggi
- School of Biological and Forensic SciencesUniversity of South WalesPontypriddUK
| | - Gerry Keogh
- Dublin AirportAirport Fire and Rescue ServiceDublinIreland
| | - Fidelma Butler
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science, Distillery FieldsUniversity College CorkCorkIreland
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2
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Wu Q, Sun T, Zhao Y, Yu C, Hu J, Li Z. Temporal and spatial patterns of small vertebrate roadkill in a supercity of eastern China. PeerJ 2023; 11:e16251. [PMID: 37842032 PMCID: PMC10569179 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
An assessment of animal roadkill can help develop road mitigation measures. This article is the first to report data on animal-vehicle collisions (AVCs) in Nanjing, a supercity in eastern China. The research was conducted on a 224.27 km stretch of nine roads in Nanjing. In the period, between November 2020 and October 2021, 26 fortnightly monitoring missions were conducted to gather roadkill carcasses so that we could analyze their temporal and spatial distribution patterns. A total of 259 carcasses were collected, comprising 22 different species, of which 46.42% were mammals and 48.81% were birds. Cats and dogs are the most roadkill mammals, and blackbirds and sparrows are the most roadkill birds. The temporal analysis demonstrated that the peak of vertebrate roadkill occurred from May to July. Spatial analysis showed that the distribution patterns of vertebrate roadkill on different roads varied with a generally non-random distribution and aggregation. By mapping accidents using kernel density analysis, we were able to pinpoint locations that were at high risk for roadkill. Due to the fortnightly survey, our results would underestimate the casualties, even if, our study suggests that the problem of car accidents due to animals should be a cause for concern, and the results of the analysis of temporal and spatial patterns contribute to the establishment of mitigation measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiong Wu
- Lab of Animal Behavior & Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Taozhu Sun
- Lab of Animal Behavior & Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yumeng Zhao
- Lab of Animal Behavior & Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Cong Yu
- Lab of Animal Behavior & Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Junhua Hu
- Chengdu Institute of BIology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China
| | - Zhongqiu Li
- Lab of Animal Behavior & Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
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3
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Sgroi G, D'Alessio N, Vada R, Ferroglio E, Vicente J, Veneziano V. The contribution of citizen science in the surveillance of wildlife and related arthropods. Parasitology 2023; 150:1089-1095. [PMID: 37929599 PMCID: PMC10801373 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182023001038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2023] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
Environmental and anthropogenic factors may significantly affect the diffusion of wild animals, enhancing the interface of human–wildlife interactions and driving the spread of pathogens and vector-borne diseases between animals and humans. However, in the last decade, the involvement of citizens in scientific research (the so-called citizen science approach, henceforth abbreviated as CS) provided a network of large-scale and cost-effective surveillance programmes of wildlife populations and their related arthropod species. Therefore, this review aims to illustrate different methods and tools used in CS studies, by arguing the main advantages and considering the limitations of this approach. The CS approach has proven to be an effective method for establishing density and distribution of several wild animal species, in urban, peri-urban and rural environments, as well a source of information regarding vector–host associations between arthropods and wildlife. Extensive efforts are recommended to motivate citizens to be involved in scientific projects to improve both their and our knowledge of the ecology and diseases of wildlife. Following the One Health paradigm, collaborative and multidisciplinary models for the surveillance of wildlife and related arthropod species should be further developed by harnessing the potentiality of the CS approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Sgroi
- Department of Animal Health, Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Southern Italy, Portici, Italy
| | - Nicola D'Alessio
- Department of Animal Health, Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Southern Italy, Portici, Italy
- Osservatorio Faunistico Venatorio, Naples, Italy
| | - Rachele Vada
- Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Italy
| | - Ezio Ferroglio
- Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Italy
| | - Joaquin Vicente
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Vincenzo Veneziano
- Osservatorio Faunistico Venatorio, Naples, Italy
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
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4
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Morelli F, Benedetti Y, Szkudlarek M, Abou Zeid F, Delgado JD, Kaczmarski M. Potential hotspots of amphibian roadkill risk in Spain. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 342:118346. [PMID: 37315465 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Revised: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
We test a forecasting strategy to identify potential hotspots of amphibian roadkill, combining the spatial distribution of amphibians, their relative risk of collision with vehicles and data on road density in Spain. We extracted a large dataset from studies reporting road casualties of 39 European amphibian species and then estimated the 'relative roadkill risk' of species as the frequency of occurrence of casualties for each amphibian and standardized by the range of distribution of the species in Europe. Using a map with the spatial distribution of Spanish amphibians at a spatial resolution of 10 × 10 Km squares, we estimated the 'cumulative relative risk of roadkill' for each amphibian assemblage as the sum of risk estimates previously calculated for each species. We also calculated the total length of roads in each square (road density). Finally, combining all layers of information, we elaborated a forecasting map highlighting the potential amphibian roadkill risk across Spain. Our findings are relevant to suggest areas that should be focused on at more detailed spatial scales. Additionally, we found that the frequency of roadkill was unrelated to the evolutionary distinctiveness score and conservation status of amphibian species, while was positively correlated with their distribution range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Morelli
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Community Ecology & Conservation Research Group, Kamýcká 129, CZ-165 00, Prague 6, Czech Republic; Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Zielona Góra, Prof. Z. Szafrana 1, 65-516, Zielona Góra, Poland.
| | - Yanina Benedetti
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Community Ecology & Conservation Research Group, Kamýcká 129, CZ-165 00, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Michał Szkudlarek
- Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Zielona Góra, Prof. Z. Szafrana 1, 65-516, Zielona Góra, Poland
| | - Farah Abou Zeid
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Community Ecology & Conservation Research Group, Kamýcká 129, CZ-165 00, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Juan D Delgado
- Área de Ecología, Dept. Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Univ. Pablo de Olavide, E-41013, Ctra. de Utrera Km.1, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Mikołaj Kaczmarski
- Poznań University of Life Sciences, Institute of Zoology, Wojska Polskiego 71C, 60-625, Poznań, Poland
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Kim K, Andersen D, Jang Y. Predictive Modeling of Ungulate-Vehicle Collision in the Republic of Korea. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:1068. [PMID: 37626954 PMCID: PMC10451958 DOI: 10.3390/biology12081068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Revised: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023]
Abstract
Animal-vehicle collisions (AVC) threaten animals as well as human life and property. AVC with ungulates, called ungulate-vehicle collision (UVC), often seriously endangers human safety because of the considerable body size of ungulates. In the Republic of Korea, three ungulate species, Capreolus pygargus, Hydropotes inermis, and Sus scrofa, account for a large proportion of AVC. This study aimed to understand the characteristics of UVC by examining various parameters related to habitat, traffic, and seasonality using MaxEnt. The results showed that the peak UVC seasons coincided with the most active seasonal behaviors of the studied ungulates. For the modeling results, in C. pygargus, habitat variables are most important for models across seasons, and UVC events are most likely to occur in high mountain chains. In H. inermis, habitat and traffic variables are most important for models across seasons. Although the important habitat for the models were different across seasons for S. scrofa, the maximum speed was consistently critical for models across all seasons. Factors critical to UVC in the Republic of Korea were different for the three ungulate species and across seasons, indicating that seasonal behavior should be considered along with landscape and traffic characteristics to mitigate UVC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyungmin Kim
- Interdisciplinary Program of EcoCreative, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea;
| | - Desiree Andersen
- Department of Life Sciences and Division of EcoScience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea
| | - Yikweon Jang
- Interdisciplinary Program of EcoCreative, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea;
- Department of Life Sciences and Division of EcoScience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea
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Vianna VR, Costa GC, de Alencar PR, Dias RI. Road mortality in the blue‐black grassquit (
Volatinia jacarina
) is seasonally driven and sex‐biased. AUSTRAL ECOL 2023. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.13325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Vinícius Rozendo Vianna
- Faculdade de Ciências da Educação e Saúde Centro Universitário de Brasília 70790‐075 Brasília Distrito Federal Brazil
| | - Gabriel Carvalho Costa
- Faculdade de Ciências da Educação e Saúde Centro Universitário de Brasília 70790‐075 Brasília Distrito Federal Brazil
| | - Pedro Rodrigues de Alencar
- Faculdade de Ciências da Educação e Saúde Centro Universitário de Brasília 70790‐075 Brasília Distrito Federal Brazil
| | - Raphael Igor Dias
- Faculdade de Ciências da Educação e Saúde Centro Universitário de Brasília 70790‐075 Brasília Distrito Federal Brazil
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7
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Are Roadkills Density-Dependent? Case Study of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba). DIVERSITY 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/d15030412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/15/2023]
Abstract
Even though birds are some of the most common road-killed animals, it remains to be determined whether avian roadkills are related to breeding numbers and breeding success, mainly due to a lack of study areas that monitor breeding populations and roadkills. We studied whether barn owl breeding numbers and breeding success are related to roadkills. We monitored yearly barn owl breeding numbers (2174 breeding attempts and 1682 adults ringed) and breeding success (9380 nestlings ringed) and monitored 95 km of roads weekly for roadkills from 2009 to 2017 in the Beit Shean and Emek Yizreel Valleys, Israel. During the study period, we documented 1073 road-killed barn owls, of which 328 were ring recoveries. The highest mortality occurred between July to September, coinciding with the barn owl post-fledging period. The number of breeding pairs and the number of nestlings ringed were positively related to the total number of barn owl roadkill, the proportion of roadkill ring recoveries, and the proportion of ring recovered roadkills in the first year of their life. First-year owls represent the majority of ringed owls, accounting for 64.6%, while adult owls compose 35.4%. Notably, a substantial fraction of adult ring recoveries, encompassing 67.2%, may pertain to floaters since we did not observe these individuals as breeding adults. Even though more females were found as roadkill ring recoveries, the proportion of male/female ring recoveries from roadkills was similar to that of adults ringed at the nest boxes. This study is the first that shows that barn owl roadkills are density-dependent and demonstrate the importance of monitoring breeding and population numbers in roadkill studies.
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Medrano‐Vizcaíno P, Brito‐Zapata D, Rueda‐Vera A, Jarrín‐V P, García‐Carrasco J, Medina D, Aguilar J, Acosta‐Buenaño N, González‐Suárez M. First national assessment of wildlife mortality in Ecuador: An effort from citizens and academia to collect roadkill data at country scale. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9916. [PMID: 36993143 PMCID: PMC10040722 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Ecuador has both high richness and high endemism, which are increasingly threatened by anthropic pressures, including roads. Research evaluating the effects of roads remains scarce, making it difficult to develop mitigation plans. Here, we present the first national assessment of wildlife mortality on roads that allow us to (1) estimate roadkill rates per species, (2) identify affected species and areas, and (3) reveal knowledge gaps. We bring together data from systematic surveys and citizen science efforts to present a dataset with 5010 wildlife roadkill records from 392 species, and we also provide 333 standardized corrected roadkill rates calculated on 242 species. Systematic surveys were reported by ten studies from five Ecuadorian provinces, revealing 242 species with corrected roadkill rates ranging from 0.03 to 171.72 ind./km/year. The highest rates were for the yellow warbler Setophaga petechia in Galapagos (171.72 ind./km/year), the cane toad Rhinella marina in Manabi (110.70 ind./km/year), and the Galapagos lava lizard Microlophus albemarlensis (47.17 ind./km/year). Citizen science and other nonsystematic monitoring provided 1705 roadkill records representing all 24 provinces in Ecuador and 262 identified species. The common opossum Didelphis marsupialis, the Andean white-eared opossum Didelphis pernigra, and the yellow warbler Setophaga petechia were more commonly reported (250, 104, and 81 individuals, respectively). Across all sources, we found 15 species listed as "Threatened" and six as "Data Deficient" by the IUCN. We recommend stronger research efforts in areas where the mortality of endemic or threatened species could be critical for populations, such as in Galapagos. This first country-wide assessment of wildlife mortality on Ecuadorian roads represents contributions from academia, members of the public, and government, underlining the value of wider engagement and collaboration. We hope these findings and the compiled dataset will guide sensible driving and sustainable planning of infrastructure in Ecuador and, ultimately, contribute to reduce wildlife mortality on roads.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Medrano‐Vizcaíno
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological SciencesUniversity of ReadingReadingUK
- Red Ecuatoriana Para el Monitoreo de Fauna Atropellada‐REMFAQuitoEcuador
| | - David Brito‐Zapata
- Red Ecuatoriana Para el Monitoreo de Fauna Atropellada‐REMFAQuitoEcuador
- Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Instituto iBIOTROP, Museo de Zoología & Laboratorio de Zoología TerrestreQuitoEcuador
| | - Adriana Rueda‐Vera
- Red Ecuatoriana Para el Monitoreo de Fauna Atropellada‐REMFAQuitoEcuador
- Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de la Universidad Central del EcuadorQuitoEcuador
| | - Pablo Jarrín‐V
- Dirección de InnovaciónInstituto Nacional de BiodiversidadQuitoEcuador
| | | | - Diana Medina
- Parque Nacional Cayambe Coca Zona baja‐Ministerio del Ambiente, Agua, y Transición Ecológica del EcuadorEl ChacoEcuador
| | - Juan Aguilar
- Escuela de BiologíaUniversidad del AzuayCuencaEcuador
| | | | - Manuela González‐Suárez
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological SciencesUniversity of ReadingReadingUK
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Ascensão F, Ribeiro YGG, Campos Z, Yogui DR, Desbiez ALJ. Forecasting seasonal peaks in roadkill patterns for improving road management. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2022; 321:115903. [PMID: 35973292 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2022] [Revised: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
For several species, roadkill is not spatially aggregated on hotspots, having instead a more diffuse pattern along the roads. For such species, management measures such as road passages may be insufficient for effective mitigation, since a large part of the road crossings is likely to occur outside the influence of those structures. One complementary approach could be to implement temporary mitigation actions, such as traffic calming. This requires understanding when roadkill peaks may occur. We tested the feasibility of predicting seasonal peaks of roadkill using data from a 3-year systematic monitoring (78 surveys over ca. 960 km of roads) from eight non-flying vertebrate species from Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, with different body size and life history traits (ca. 6400 records from focal species). We modelled the time-series of the roadkill of these species at large scale (state level) using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs). We used the data of the first 2 years as training datasets, and the information from the third year of surveys as testing datasets to evaluate the prediction performance of models. Overall, the models of species feed with a higher number of records were able to follow reasonably well the variations of roadkill over time, although they were not able to correctly predict the number of collisions. For species with fewer observations, the models presented a poorer goodness-of-fit and prediction ability. Our results suggest that, at least for those species with higher roadkill rates, it can be possible to forecast periods of higher probability of occurring hot-moments of mortality. Such models can provide valuable information to implement seasonal management actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Ascensão
- cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE - Institute for Global Changes and Sustainability, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa. Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal; Instituto de Conservação de Animais Silvestres (ICAS), Rua Licuala 622, 79046150, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
| | - Yuri Geraldo Gomes Ribeiro
- Instituto de Conservação de Animais Silvestres (ICAS), Rua Licuala 622, 79046150, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
| | - Zilca Campos
- Laboratório de Vida Selvagem - Embrapa Pantanal, Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
| | - Débora Regina Yogui
- Instituto de Conservação de Animais Silvestres (ICAS), Rua Licuala 622, 79046150, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
| | - Arnaud L J Desbiez
- Instituto de Conservação de Animais Silvestres (ICAS), Rua Licuala 622, 79046150, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
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10
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Etherington GJ, Ciezarek A, Shaw R, Michaux J, Croose E, Haerty W, Di Palma F. Extensive genome introgression between domestic ferret and European polecat during population recovery in Great Britain. J Hered 2022; 113:500-515. [PMID: 35932226 PMCID: PMC9584812 DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esac038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The European polecat (Mustela putorius) is a mammalian predator which occurs across much of Europe east to the Ural Mountains. In Great Britain, following years of persecution the range of the European polecat contracted and by the early 1900s was restricted to unmanaged forests of central Wales. The European polecat has recently undergone a population increase due to legal protection and its range now overlaps that of feral domestic ferrets (Mustela putorius furo). During this range expansion, European polecats hybridized with feral domestic ferrets producing viable offspring. Here, we carry out population-level whole-genome sequencing on 8 domestic ferrets, 19 British European polecats, and 15 European polecats from the European mainland. We used a range of population genomics methods to examine the data, including phylogenetics, phylogenetic graphs, model-based clustering, phylogenetic invariants, ABBA-BABA tests, topology weighting, and Fst. We found high degrees of genome introgression in British polecats outside their previous stronghold, even in those individuals phenotyped as “pure” polecats. These polecats ranged from presumed F1 hybrids (gamma = 0.53) to individuals that were much less introgressed (gamma = 0.2). We quantify this introgression and find introgressed genes containing Fst outliers associated with cognitive function and sight.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Adam Ciezarek
- The Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK
| | - Rebecca Shaw
- The Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK
| | - Johan Michaux
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
| | | | | | - Federica Di Palma
- The Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.,Genome British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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11
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Swinnen KRR, Jacobs A, Claus K, Ruyts S, Vercayie D, Lambrechts J, Herremans M. ‘Animals under wheels’: Wildlife roadkill data collection by citizen scientists as a part of their nature recording activities. NATURE CONSERVATION 2022. [DOI: 10.3897/natureconservation.47.72970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
‘Animals under wheels’ is a citizen science driven project that has collected almost 90,000 roadkill records from Flanders, Belgium, mainly between 2008 and 2020. However, until now, the platform and results have never been presented comprehensively to the scientific community and we highlight strengths and challenges of this system. Data collection occurred using the subsite www.dierenonderdewielen.be (‘animals under wheels’) or the multi-purpose biodiversity platform observation.org and the apps, allowing the registration of roadkill and living organisms alike. We recorded 4,314 citizen scientists who contributed with at least a single roadkill record (207-1,314 active users per year). Non-roadkill records were registered by 85% of these users and the median time between registration of the first and last record was over 6 years, indicating a very high volunteer retention. Based on photographs presented with the roadkill records (n = 7,687), volunteer users correctly identified 98.2% of the species. Vertebrates represent 99% of all roadkill records. Over 145,000 km of transects were monitored, resulting in 1,726 mammal and 2,041 bird victims. Carcass encounter rates and composition of the top 10 detected species list was dependent on monitoring speed. Roadkill data collected during transects only represented 6% of all roadkill data available in the dataset. The remaining 60,478 bird and mammal roadkill records were opportunistically collected. The top species list, based on the opportunistically collected roadkill data, is clearly biased towards larger, enigmatic species. Although indirect evidence showed an increase in search effort for roadkill from 2010-2020, the number of roadkill records did not increase, indicating that roadkills are diminishing. Mitigation measures preventing roadkill could have had an effect on this, but decrease in population densities was likely to (partially) influence this result. As a case study, the mammal roadkill data were explored. We used linear regressions for the 17 most registered mammal species, determining per species if the relative proportion per year changed significantly between 2010 and 2020 (1 significant decrease, 7 significant increases). We investigated the seasonal patterns in roadkill for the 17 mammal species, and patterns per species were consistent over the years, although restrictions on human movement, due to COVID-19, influenced the seasonal pattern for some species in 2020. In conclusion, citizen scientists are a very valuable asset in investigating wildlife roadkill. While we present the results from Flanders, the platform and apps are freely available for projects anywhere in the world.
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12
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Pokorny B, Cerri J, Bužan E. Wildlife roadkill and COVID‐19: a biologically significant, but heterogeneous, reduction. J Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Boštjan Pokorny
- Environmental Protection College, Trg mladosti 7 Velenje Slovenia
- Slovenian Forestry Institute, Večna pot 2 Ljubljana Slovenia
| | - Jacopo Cerri
- Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies University of Primorska, Glagoljaška 8 Koper Slovenia
| | - Elena Bužan
- Environmental Protection College, Trg mladosti 7 Velenje Slovenia
- Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies University of Primorska, Glagoljaška 8 Koper Slovenia
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