Centro de Biologia Ambiental, University of Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
PLoS One. 2012;7(9):e43811. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043811. Epub 2012 Sep 6.
Understanding the ecological consequences of roads and developing ways to mitigate their negative effects has become an important goal for many conservation biologists. Most mitigation measures are based on road mortality and barrier effects data. However, studying fine-scale individual spatial responses in roaded landscapes may help develop more cohesive road planning strategies for wildlife conservation.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We investigated how individuals respond in their spatial behavior toward a highway and its traffic intensity by radio-tracking two common species particularly vulnerable to road mortality (barn owl Tyto alba and stone marten Martes foina). We addressed the following questions: 1) how highways affected home-range location and size in the immediate vicinity of these structures, 2) which road-related features influenced habitat selection, 3) what was the role of different road-related features on movement properties, and 4) which characteristics were associated with crossing events and road-kills. The main findings were: 1) if there was available habitat, barn owls and stone martens may not avoid highways and may even include highways within their home-ranges; 2) both species avoided using areas near the highway when traffic was high, but tended to move toward the highway when streams were in close proximity and where verges offered suitable habitat; and 3) barn owls tended to cross above-grade highway sections while stone martens tended to avoid crossing at leveled highway sections.
Mortality may be the main road-mediated mechanism that affects barn owl and stone marten populations. Fine-scale movements strongly indicated that a decrease in road mortality risk can be realized by reducing sources of attraction, and by increasing road permeability through measures that promote safe crossings.
了解道路的生态后果并开发减轻其负面影响的方法已成为许多保护生物学家的重要目标。大多数缓解措施基于道路死亡率和屏障效应数据。然而，研究道路景观中个体的精细尺度空间响应可能有助于为野生动物保护制定更具凝聚力的道路规划策略。
方法/主要发现：我们通过无线电跟踪两种特别容易受到道路死亡率影响的常见物种（仓鸮 Tyto alba 和石貂 Martes foina），研究了个体如何对高速公路及其交通强度的空间行为做出反应。我们解决了以下问题：1）高速公路如何影响这些结构附近的栖息地范围和大小，2）哪些与道路相关的特征影响栖息地选择，3）不同与道路相关的特征在运动特性上的作用，以及 4）哪些特征与穿越事件和道路死亡有关。主要发现是：1）如果有可用的栖息地，仓鸮和石貂可能不会回避高速公路，甚至可能将高速公路纳入其栖息地范围；2）当交通量高时，这两个物种都避免使用靠近高速公路的区域，但当溪流靠近且路边提供适宜的栖息地时，它们往往会向高速公路移动；3）仓鸮倾向于穿越高速公路的上行路段，而石貂则倾向于避免穿越水平路段。
死亡率可能是影响仓鸮和石貂种群的主要道路介导机制。精细尺度的运动强烈表明，通过减少吸引力源并通过促进安全穿越的措施提高道路渗透性，可以降低道路死亡率风险。
