Estimating the effects of road-kills on the Fire Salamander population along a river

Iftah Sinai; Talya Oron; Gilad Weil; Roni Sachal; Avi Koplovich; Leon Blaustein; Alan R. Templeton; Lior Blank

doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2020.125917

Estimating the effects of road-kills on the Fire Salamander population along a river

Iftah Sinai, Talya Oron, Gilad Weil, Roni Sachal, Avi Koplovich, Leon Blaustein, Alan R. Templeton, Lior Blank

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

A number of factors contribute to the process of amphibian decline, among them population fragmentation and road-kills. In this work we evaluated the effects of a road that separates the hibernation area of the Fire Salamander population from their breeding site on the demography and movement behavior. For that we monitored the population for four years using transects along the road and along a river that runs in parallel to the road and serve as the breeding site. We found that the estimated percent of the population killed on the road steadily increased minimally from 2.56 % to 10.78 % over a four year period of increasing vehicular activity. Interestingly, only a small number of individuals were documented on both sides of the road, suggesting there is a potential for population fragmentation due to the road. Additionally, we used geostatistics to reveal that the spatial distribution pattern of the population and road-kills along the road is not random. Thus, conservation efforts that focus on preventing salamanders from accessing the road surface should focus on the areas where the population and road-kills aggregate.

Original language	English
Article number	125917
Journal	Journal for Nature Conservation
Volume	58
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2020.125917
State	Published - Dec 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
In the course of the review process of this paper, Leon Blaustein passed away untimely on June 23, 2020. Leon was an excellent scientist, mentor and great friend. He was a source of jokes, laughter and support, ensuring that the difficulties and frustrations during experiments and long rainy nights looking for salamanders was not without a smile. We will not forget him and will miss him greatly. This study was funded by ISF grant 961-2008 awarded to Leon Blaustein, German-Israel project grant BL 1271/1-1 awarded to Leon Blaustein and Alan Templeton and STE 1130/8-1 awarded to Sebastian Steinfartz and Arne Nolte. The Field collection of salamanders, experimentation, and their release were conducted according to the Nature and Parks Authority permit 2015/41180 and with accordance to the guidelines of the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee at Haifa University permit number 033_b9947_6. To the Nature and Parks Authority in Israel for budget helping.

Funding Information:
This study was funded by ISF grant 961-2008 awarded to Leon Blaustein, German-Israel project grant BL 1271/1-1 awarded to Leon Blaustein and Alan Templeton and STE 1130/8-1 awarded to Sebastian Steinfartz and Arne Nolte. The Field collection of salamanders, experimentation, and their release were conducted according to the Nature and Parks Authority permit 2015/41180 and with accordance to the guidelines of the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee at Haifa University permit number 033_b9947_6. To the Nature and Parks Authority in Israel for budget helping.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier GmbH

Keywords

Amphibian
Fragmentation
Hotspot analysis
Migration
Road-kill

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology
Nature and Landscape Conservation

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jnc.2020.125917

Cite this

@article{690aae69de104c2fbfcdd08b4e64f14a,

title = "Estimating the effects of road-kills on the Fire Salamander population along a river",

abstract = "A number of factors contribute to the process of amphibian decline, among them population fragmentation and road-kills. In this work we evaluated the effects of a road that separates the hibernation area of the Fire Salamander population from their breeding site on the demography and movement behavior. For that we monitored the population for four years using transects along the road and along a river that runs in parallel to the road and serve as the breeding site. We found that the estimated percent of the population killed on the road steadily increased minimally from 2.56 % to 10.78 % over a four year period of increasing vehicular activity. Interestingly, only a small number of individuals were documented on both sides of the road, suggesting there is a potential for population fragmentation due to the road. Additionally, we used geostatistics to reveal that the spatial distribution pattern of the population and road-kills along the road is not random. Thus, conservation efforts that focus on preventing salamanders from accessing the road surface should focus on the areas where the population and road-kills aggregate.",

keywords = "Amphibian, Fragmentation, Hotspot analysis, Migration, Road-kill",

author = "Iftah Sinai and Talya Oron and Gilad Weil and Roni Sachal and Avi Koplovich and Leon Blaustein and Templeton, {Alan R.} and Lior Blank",

note = "Funding Information: In the course of the review process of this paper, Leon Blaustein passed away untimely on June 23, 2020. Leon was an excellent scientist, mentor and great friend. He was a source of jokes, laughter and support, ensuring that the difficulties and frustrations during experiments and long rainy nights looking for salamanders was not without a smile. We will not forget him and will miss him greatly. This study was funded by ISF grant 961-2008 awarded to Leon Blaustein, German-Israel project grant BL 1271/1-1 awarded to Leon Blaustein and Alan Templeton and STE 1130/8-1 awarded to Sebastian Steinfartz and Arne Nolte. The Field collection of salamanders, experimentation, and their release were conducted according to the Nature and Parks Authority permit 2015/41180 and with accordance to the guidelines of the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee at Haifa University permit number 033_b9947_6. To the Nature and Parks Authority in Israel for budget helping. Funding Information: This study was funded by ISF grant 961-2008 awarded to Leon Blaustein, German-Israel project grant BL 1271/1-1 awarded to Leon Blaustein and Alan Templeton and STE 1130/8-1 awarded to Sebastian Steinfartz and Arne Nolte. The Field collection of salamanders, experimentation, and their release were conducted according to the Nature and Parks Authority permit 2015/41180 and with accordance to the guidelines of the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee at Haifa University permit number 033_b9947_6. To the Nature and Parks Authority in Israel for budget helping. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier GmbH",

year = "2020",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1016/j.jnc.2020.125917",

language = "English",

volume = "58",

journal = "Journal for Nature Conservation",

issn = "1617-1381",

publisher = "Urban und Fischer Verlag GmbH und Co. KG",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Estimating the effects of road-kills on the Fire Salamander population along a river

AU - Sinai, Iftah

AU - Oron, Talya

AU - Weil, Gilad

AU - Sachal, Roni

AU - Koplovich, Avi

AU - Blaustein, Leon

AU - Templeton, Alan R.

AU - Blank, Lior

N1 - Funding Information: In the course of the review process of this paper, Leon Blaustein passed away untimely on June 23, 2020. Leon was an excellent scientist, mentor and great friend. He was a source of jokes, laughter and support, ensuring that the difficulties and frustrations during experiments and long rainy nights looking for salamanders was not without a smile. We will not forget him and will miss him greatly. This study was funded by ISF grant 961-2008 awarded to Leon Blaustein, German-Israel project grant BL 1271/1-1 awarded to Leon Blaustein and Alan Templeton and STE 1130/8-1 awarded to Sebastian Steinfartz and Arne Nolte. The Field collection of salamanders, experimentation, and their release were conducted according to the Nature and Parks Authority permit 2015/41180 and with accordance to the guidelines of the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee at Haifa University permit number 033_b9947_6. To the Nature and Parks Authority in Israel for budget helping. Funding Information: This study was funded by ISF grant 961-2008 awarded to Leon Blaustein, German-Israel project grant BL 1271/1-1 awarded to Leon Blaustein and Alan Templeton and STE 1130/8-1 awarded to Sebastian Steinfartz and Arne Nolte. The Field collection of salamanders, experimentation, and their release were conducted according to the Nature and Parks Authority permit 2015/41180 and with accordance to the guidelines of the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee at Haifa University permit number 033_b9947_6. To the Nature and Parks Authority in Israel for budget helping. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier GmbH

PY - 2020/12

Y1 - 2020/12

N2 - A number of factors contribute to the process of amphibian decline, among them population fragmentation and road-kills. In this work we evaluated the effects of a road that separates the hibernation area of the Fire Salamander population from their breeding site on the demography and movement behavior. For that we monitored the population for four years using transects along the road and along a river that runs in parallel to the road and serve as the breeding site. We found that the estimated percent of the population killed on the road steadily increased minimally from 2.56 % to 10.78 % over a four year period of increasing vehicular activity. Interestingly, only a small number of individuals were documented on both sides of the road, suggesting there is a potential for population fragmentation due to the road. Additionally, we used geostatistics to reveal that the spatial distribution pattern of the population and road-kills along the road is not random. Thus, conservation efforts that focus on preventing salamanders from accessing the road surface should focus on the areas where the population and road-kills aggregate.

AB - A number of factors contribute to the process of amphibian decline, among them population fragmentation and road-kills. In this work we evaluated the effects of a road that separates the hibernation area of the Fire Salamander population from their breeding site on the demography and movement behavior. For that we monitored the population for four years using transects along the road and along a river that runs in parallel to the road and serve as the breeding site. We found that the estimated percent of the population killed on the road steadily increased minimally from 2.56 % to 10.78 % over a four year period of increasing vehicular activity. Interestingly, only a small number of individuals were documented on both sides of the road, suggesting there is a potential for population fragmentation due to the road. Additionally, we used geostatistics to reveal that the spatial distribution pattern of the population and road-kills along the road is not random. Thus, conservation efforts that focus on preventing salamanders from accessing the road surface should focus on the areas where the population and road-kills aggregate.

KW - Amphibian

KW - Fragmentation

KW - Hotspot analysis

KW - Migration

KW - Road-kill

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85094185188&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jnc.2020.125917

DO - 10.1016/j.jnc.2020.125917

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85094185188

SN - 1617-1381

VL - 58

JO - Journal for Nature Conservation

JF - Journal for Nature Conservation

M1 - 125917

ER -

Estimating the effects of road-kills on the Fire Salamander population along a river

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this