Skip Nav Destination
Other RZS NSW Publications
Too close for comfort: Contentious issues in human-wildlife encounters
Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales
ISBN electronic:
978-0-9803272-2-9
Publication date:
2008
Chapter Contents
Book Chapter
Comparison of road kills in peri-urban and regional areas of New South Wales (Australia) and factors influencing deaths
By
Meredith Brainwood
Meredith Brainwood
College of Health and Science, University of Western Sydney - Hawkesbury campus, Locked Bag 1797, South Penrith Distribution Centre, Australia 1797
Search for other works by this author on:
-
Published:2008
Citation
Shelley Burgin, Meredith Brainwood, 2008. "Comparison of road kills in peri-urban and regional areas of New South Wales (Australia) and factors influencing deaths", Too close for comfort: Contentious issues in human-wildlife encounters, Daniel Lunney, Adam Munn, Will Meikle
Download citation file:
Road kills were counted in peri-urban Sydney and in regional New South Wales on roads with different volumes of traffic. Initial studies were conducted in late winter. Approximately equal numbers of birds and mammals were observed dead, while herpetofauna were absent. Most species killed were native, however, the species impacted and frequency of mortality events differed across regions of New South Wales. Higher numbers were killed on medium traffic volume roads (eg. major secondary roads, minor highways) than on low volume local traffic roads or major highways. Roads with verges that were slashed had more deaths than stretches that had vegetated verges. Overall, more deaths were recorded on roads with a physical barrier (eg. fence, cutting) on one side of the road than in areas were there was no such barrier. More deaths were observed in rural areas than in peri-urban areas. Our results confirm that there is no one ‘quick fix’ that will overcome the generic problem of roadkills. Regional solutions that identify and address the main species adversely affected by collision mortality are required.
AMBS, 2001a Fauna Underpass Monitoring: Stage 1. Final Report Brunswick Heads. Report to NSW Roads and Traffic Authority. Australian Museum Business Services, Sydney.
AMBS, 2001b Fauna Underpass Monitoring: Stage 1. Final Report Herons Creek. Report to NSW Roads and Traffic Authority. Australian Museum Business Services, Sydney.
AMBS, 2001c Fauna Underpass Monitoring: Stage 1. Final Report Bulahdelah to Coolongolook. Report to NSW Roads and Traffic Authority. Australian Museum Business Services, Sydney.
AMBS, 2001d Fauna Underpass Monitoring: Stage 1. Final Report Taree. Report to NSW Roads and Traffic Authority. Australian Museum Business Services, Sydney.
Baker, P. J., Harris, S., Robertson, C. P. J., Saunders, G. and White, P. C. L. 2004. Is it possible to monitor mammal population changes from counts of road traffic casualties? An analysis using Bristol's red foxes Vulpes vulpes as an example. Mammal Review 34: 1-16.
Bennett, A. F. 1991. Roads, Roadsides and Wildlife Conservation: A review. Pp. 99-118 in Nature Conservation 2: The role of corridors, edited by D. A. Saunders and R. J. Hobbs, Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton.
Burgin, S. and Saunders, T. 2007. Parrots of the Sydney region: population changes over 100 years. Pp. 185-194 in Pest or Guest: The Zoology of Overabundance, edited by D. Lunney, P. Eby, P. Hutchings and S. Burgin. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman.
Burgman, M. A. and Lindenmayer, D. B. 1998 Conservation Biology for the Australian Environment. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton.
Cain, A. T., Tuovila, V. R., Hewitt, D. G. and Tewes, M. E. 2003. Effects of a highway and mitigation projects on bobcats in Southern Texas. Biological Conservation 114: 189-197.
Clarke, P. G., White, P. C. and Harris, S. 1998. Effects of roads on Badger ( Meles meles) populations in southwest England. Biological Conservation 86: 117-124.
Clevenger, A. P. and Waltho, N. 2000. Factors influencing the effectiveness of wildlife underpasses in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Conservation Biology 14: 47-56.
Clevenger, A. P., Chruszcz, B. and Gunson, K. E. 2001. Drainage culverts as habitat linkages and factors affecting passage by mammals. Journal of Applied Ecology 38: 1340-1349.
Clevenger, A. P., Chruszcz, B. and Gunson, K. E. 2003. Spatial patterns and factors influencing small vertebrate fauna road-kill aggregations. Biological Conservation 109: 15-26.
Deverley, P. and Stouffer, P. 2000. Effects of roads on movements by understorey birds in mixed-species flocks in Central Amazonian Brazil. Conservation Biology 15: 1416-1422.
Doody, J., West, P., Stapley, J., Welsh A., Tucker, A., Guarino, E., Pauza, M., Bishop, N., Head, M., West, G., Pepper, A. and Jones, A. 2003. Fauna by-catch in pipeline trenches: conservation, animal ethics, and current practices in Australia. Australian Zoologist 32: 410-419.
DPIW&E, 2003. Sharing the road with wildlife. Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment, Hobart. http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/SJON-52B4P4?open.
Dyer, S.J., O'Neill, J.P., Wasel, S.M. and Boutin, S. 2002. Quantifying barrier effects of roads and seismic lines on movements of female woodland caribou in northeastern Alberta. Canadian Journal of Zoology 80: 839-845.
Finder, R. A., Roseberry, J. L. and Woolf, A. 1999. Site and landscape conditions at white-tailed deer/vehicle collision locations in Illinois. Landscape and Urban Planning 44: 77-85.
Goosem, M. 2001. Effects of tropical rainforest roads on small mammals: inhibition of crossing movements. Wildlife Research 25: 351-364.
Hoffman, R. 1995 The impact of roads upon native Australian fauna: an analysis of the mechanisms available to reduce roadkills and habitat fragmentation within Australia. Australian National Internship Program, Melbourne
Hubbard, M. W., Danielson, B. J. and Schmitz, R. A. 2000. Factors influencing the location of deer-vehicle accidents in Iowa. Journal of Wildlife Management 64: 707-712.
Jaarsma, C.F., van Langevelde, F. and Botma, H. 2006. Flattened fauna and mitigation: Traffic victims related to road, traffic, vehicle, and species characteristics. Transportation Research Part D 11: 264-276.
Jaeger, J.A.G., Bowman, J., Brennan, J., Fahrig, L., Bert, D., Bouchard, J., Charbonneau, N., Frank, K., Gruber, B. and von Toschanowitz, K.T. 2005. Predicting when animal populations are at risk from roads: an interactive model of road avoidance behaviour. Ecological Modelling 185: 329-348.
Joly, P., Morand, C. and Cohas, A. 2003. Habitat fragmentation and amphibian conservation: building a tool for assessing landscape matrix connectivity. Comptes Rendus Biologies 326: S132-S139.
Jones, M. E. 2000. Road upgrade, road mortality and remedial measures: impacts on a population of eastern quolls and Tasmanian devils. Wildlife Research 27: 289-296.
Klocker, U., Croft, D.B. and Ramp, D. 2006. Frequency and causes of kangaroo-vehicle collisions on an Australian outback highway. Wildlife Research 33: 5-15.
Lee, E., Klocker, U., Croft, D.B. and Ramp, D. 2004. Kangaroo-vehicle collisions in Australia's sheep rangelands, during and following drought periods. Australian Mammalogy 26: 215-226.
Merriam, G. and Saunders, D. A. 1993. Corridors in Restoration of Fragmented Landscapes in Natures Conservation 3: Restoration of Fragmented Ecosystems edited by D. A. Saunders and R. J. Hobbs. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton.
Osawa, R. 1989. Road-kills of the swamp wallaby, Wallabia bicolor, on North Stradbroke Island, South-east Queensland. Australian Wildlife Research 16: 95-104.
Putman, R.J. 1997. Deer and road traffic accidents: options for management. Journal of Environmental Management 51: 43-57.
Ramp, D. and Ben-Ami, D. 2006. The effect of road-based fatalities on the viability of a peri-urban swamp wallaby population. Journal of Wildlife Management 70: 1615-1624.
Ramp, D. and Croft, D.B. 2006. Do wildlife warning reflectors elicit aversion in captive macropods? Wildlife Research 33: 583-590.
Ramp, D., Caldwell, J., Edwards, K.A., Warton, D. and Croft, D.B. 2005. Modeling of wildlife fatality hotspots along the Snowy Mountain Highway in New South Wales, Australia. Biological Conservation 126: 474-490.
Ramp, D., Wilson, V.K. and Croft, D.B. 2006. Assessing the impacts of roads in peri-urban reserves: Road-based fatalities and road usage by wildlife in the Royal National Park, New South Wales, Australia. Biological Conservation 129: 348-359.
Rondinini, C. and Doncaster, C.P. 2002. Roads as barriers to movement for hedgehogs. Functional Ecology 16: 504-509.
Sall, J., Lehman, A. and Creighton, L. 2001 JMP Start Statistics: A guide to statistics and data analysis. SAS Institute Inc (Duxbury), California.
Shine, R., Lemaster, M., Wall, M., Langkilde, T. and Mason, R. 2004. Why did the garter snake cross the road? Effects of roads on movement and the location of mates by garter snakes ( Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis). Ecology and Society 9: 9-21.
Slater, P., Slater, P. and Slater, R. 1994 The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds. Rigby Publishers, Adelaide.
Taylor, B.D and Goldingay, R.L. 2003. Cutting the carnage: wildlife usage of road culverts in north-eastern New South Wales. Wildlife Research 30: 529-537.
Trombulak, S. C. and Frissell, C. A. 2000. Review of ecological effects of roads on terrestrial and aquatic communities. Conservation Biology 41: 18-30.
Underhill, J. E. and Angold, P. G. 2000. Effects of roads on wildlife in an intensively modified landscape. Environmental Review 8: 21-39.
van Langevelde, F. and Jaarsma, C.F. 2004. Using traffic flow theory to model traffic mortality in mammals. Landscape Ecology 19: 895-907.
Washington, H. 1998 Road Management on the Urban-Rural Fringe. A Report on Pilot Studies in Hornsby and Wollondilly Shires. Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment Management Trust, Windsor.
Weir, E. 2002. Collisions with wildlife: the rising toll. Canadian Medical Association Journal: 166: 775
This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access.