Crepuscular and small but not evolutionary unique species are the reptiles less affected by roadkill in Europe

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60460709%3A41330%2F24%3A98885" target="_blank" >RIV/60460709:41330/24:98885 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.10785" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.10785</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/oik.10785" target="_blank" >10.1111/oik.10785</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Crepuscular and small but not evolutionary unique species are the reptiles less affected by roadkill in Europe

Original language description

We extensively reviewed scientific literature and extracted a large dataset with roadkill events for reptile species. We examined 300 articles from 33 European countries, gathering 1688 records of reptiles killed by vehicle traffic. A total of 125 taxa were found documented as roadkill (100 native and 25 exotic species). We calculated each species' occurrence frequency within the database (henceforth 'relative roadkill frequency'). The relative roadkill of species was strongly and significantly correlated when comparing the whole dataset and the subset of systematic studies. We modelled the inter-specific variation in relative roadkill frequency across the European reptilian phylogeny concerning species traits, evolutionary uniqueness, and distribution range using a phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) model. Overall, reptile casualties are more pronounced for more closely related species. However, the relative roadkill frequency was unrelated to the level of evolutionary distinctiveness of European reptiles. Additionally, relative roadkill frequency was not correlated to the distribution range but was positively correlated with the species' body mass. The reptiles more frequently cited as road casualties were overall relatively large species: Montpellier snake Malpolon monspessulanus, European grass snake Natrix natrix, and Caspian whipsnake Dolichophis caspius. Additionally, more active species during the crepuscular hours were less affected by roadkill. From a conservation point of view, our results suggest that roadkill frequency is not more significant for evolutionary, more unique reptiles than for other species in Europe, while at the same time, widely distributed species are not the main target of roadkill events. Then, the main causes of roadkill in reptiles must be associated with other factors, such as behavioural traits or density of populations, rather than simply the size of their distribution range. Keywords: evolutionary uniqueness, phylogenetic signal, reptile species, roadkill incidence, wildlife conservation

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10618 - Ecology

Project

—

Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Oikos

ISSN

0030-1299

e-ISSN

0030-1299

Volume of the periodical

2024

Issue of the periodical within the volume

11

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

12

Pages from-to

1-12

UT code for WoS article

001280992300001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85200024170