Literaturdatenbank
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Patrick, D. A., Gibbs, J. P., Popescu, V. D., & Nelson, D. A. (2012). Multi-scale habitat-resistance models for predicting road mortality “hotspots” for turtles and amphibians. Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 7(3), 407–426.
Added by: Admin (06 Jan 2014 18:23:04 UTC) |
| Resource type: Journal Article BibTeX citation key: Patrick2012 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Habitat - habitat, Nordamerika - North America, Schildkröten - turtles + tortoises Creators: Gibbs, Nelson, Patrick, Popescu Collection: Herpetological Conservation and Biology |
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| Abstract |
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Roads represent a significant threat to biodiversity. If transportation managers are to reduce the effects of roads, they need large-scale data identifying where species are likely to occur (‘hotspots’). In this project, ecologists and road-managers developed an approach to identify hotspots for 10 species of amphibians and reptiles on roads. We used the available literature to identify suitable aquatic habitats and to assign resistance values to terrestrial habitats, and then developed spatially explicit models that integrated habitat data at both the local and regional population level. We employed two approaches for prioritizing mitigation efforts, first by overlaying traffic intensity over predicted occurrences and second by selecting long stretches of road with continuously high predicted occurrences. We evaluated models using field data derived from road surveys. Our models showed clear differences in the predicted occurrence among habitat specialists and generalists, and between life-history stages. Wide-ranging habitat generalists were predicted to have at least some probability of occurrence on most roads. Conversely, species with limited movement ranges and specific aquatic and terrestrial habitat had more limited distributions. Validation data indicated that the models were effective for predicting occurrence of species with specialized habitat requirements, but that predictions for wide-ranging generalists were less accurate. These data also demonstrated that focusing on stretches of continuous hotspot and traffic intensity were effective parameters when identifying areas particularly in need of mitigation. Our modeling approach is an effective tool for identifying road-hotspots for herpetofaunal species with specific habitat requirements, allowing predictions to be made over large spatial extents, and with readily available data sources.
Added by: Admin |