Vincent Kyle D, Litzgus Jacqueline D, Kell Steven J, Kozmik Cory L, Belleau Angela, Popp Jesse N
School of Natural Sciences, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
Lands and Resource Department, Shawanaga First Nation, Nobel, Ontario, Canada.
Conserv Biol. 2025 Jun 19:e70089. doi: 10.1111/cobi.70089.
Trains cause mortalities of several animal species, but the ecological impacts of railways are understudied. Most research on wildlife-train collisions has focused on large mammals, but understanding railway-specific risks for underrepresented taxa, especially vulnerable species, is important for developing effective mitigation strategies. Based on the concerns and interests of 2 Anishinaabek communities-Shawanaga First Nation (SFN) and Magnetawan First Nation (MFN)-we collaboratively aimed to fill knowledge gaps with a community-informed approach in which Indigenous knowledge (IK) and Western science were used to investigate wildlife interactions with railways bisecting the 2 Traditional Territories in Ontario, Canada. To inform study design, First Nation community members were invited to share knowledge concerning wildlife-railway impacts in semistructured interviews. Weekly walking surveys were conducted in 3 field seasons along two 3.6-km sections of railway in SFN and MFN during which locations of all wildlife observed alive or dead were recorded. We also deployed game cameras at 500-m intervals along the railway survey areas. On walking surveys, we recorded 462 observations of individuals from 42 species, of which 76% were found dead. These findings complemented the shared IK that railways affect a wide variety of wildlife, often causing mortalities. Reptiles and amphibians were the most severely affected taxa, accounting for 87% of observed mortalities. Seven species at risk of extinction interacted with the railway, including 3 turtle species and one snake species, all of which were found dead on the railway tracks. Cameras recorded 43 wildlife species; most detections were of large and medium mammals, suggesting they frequently interact with the railway but may face lower mortality risks than herpetofauna in our study area. Ultimately, our study highlights the holistic outcomes that are possible through collaborative research that embraces complementary knowledge systems and indicates that reptile and amphibian populations may be particularly susceptible to railway mortality.
火车会导致多种动物死亡，但铁路的生态影响却未得到充分研究。大多数关于野生动物与火车碰撞的研究都集中在大型哺乳动物上，但了解铁路对代表性不足的类群，特别是脆弱物种的特定风险，对于制定有效的缓解策略至关重要。基于两个阿尼什纳贝克社区——沙瓦纳加第一民族（SFN）和马格内塔万第一民族（MFN）的关注和兴趣，我们合作旨在通过一种社区知情的方法来填补知识空白，在这种方法中，利用本土知识（IK）和西方科学来调查野生动物与横穿加拿大安大略省两个传统领地的铁路之间的相互作用。为了为研究设计提供信息，邀请了第一民族社区成员在半结构化访谈中分享有关野生动物与铁路影响的知识。在三个野外季节中，沿着SFN和MFN的两段3.6公里长的铁路路段进行了每周一次的徒步调查，期间记录了所有观察到的活着或死亡的野生动物的位置。我们还沿着铁路调查区域每隔500米部署了狩猎相机。在徒步调查中，我们记录了来自42个物种的462次个体观察，其中76%被发现死亡。这些发现补充了共享的本土知识，即铁路会影响多种野生动物，常常导致死亡。爬行动物和两栖动物是受影响最严重的类群，占观察到的死亡数的87%。七种濒危物种与铁路有相互作用，包括三种龟类和一种蛇类，所有这些都在铁轨上被发现死亡。相机记录了43种野生动物物种；大多数检测到的是大中型哺乳动物，这表明它们经常与铁路相互作用，但在我们的研究区域中，它们面临的死亡风险可能比爬行动物和两栖动物低。最终，我们的研究突出了通过融合互补知识系统的合作研究可能取得的整体成果，并表明爬行动物和两栖动物种群可能特别容易受到铁路造成的死亡影响。
