LANDSCAPE-SCALE ANALYSIS OF ROADSIDE BARRIERS AND WILDLIFE MORTALITY IN CONNECTICUT
Abstract
Roads and roadside infrastructure can limit wildlife movement and increase mortality, yet the ecological impacts of common barriers—such as guardrails, rock walls, fences, and steep embankments—remain poorly quantified at regional scales. This study evaluates how these everyday structures influence wildlife roadkill patterns across 18 municipalities of western Connecticut, a landscape characterized by dense road networks, mixed land cover, and frequent forest–road interfaces.
References
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15. Jones, P. F., Jakes, A. F., Vegter, S. E., & Verhage, M. S. (2022). Is it the road or the fence? Influence of linear anthropogenic features on the movement and distribution of a partially migratory ungulate. Movement Ecology, 10(1), 37. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-022-00336-3
16. Kent, E., Schwartz, A. L. W., & Perkins, S. E. (2021). Life in the fast lane: Roadkill risk along an urban–rural gradient. Journal of Urban Ecology, 7(1), juaa039. https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juaa039
17. Kroeger, S. B., Hanslin, H. M., Lennartsson, T., D’Amico, M., Kollmann, J., Fischer, C., Albertsen, E., & Speed, J. D. M. (2022). Impacts of roads on bird species richness: A meta-analysis considering road types, habitats and feeding guilds. Science of The Total Environment, 812, 151478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151478
18. Lee, T. S., Rondeau, K., Schaufele, R., Clevenger, A. P., & Duke, D. (2021). Developing a correction factor to apply to animal–vehicle collision data for improved road mitigation measures. Wildlife Research, 48(6), 501–510. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR20090
19. Valerio, F., Basile, M., & Balestrieri, R. (2021). The identification of wildlife-vehicle collision hotspots: Citizen science reveals spatial and temporal patterns. Ecological Processes, 10(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-020-00271-4
20. Wilansky, J., & Jaeger, J. A. G. (2024). Predicting the effectiveness of wildlife fencing along roads using an individual-based model: How do fence-following distances influence the fence-end effect? Ecological Modelling, 495(C). https://ideas.repec.org//a/eee/ecomod/v495y2024ics0304380024001728.html
