Road upgrade, road mortality and remedial measures: impacts on a population of eastern quolls and Tasmanian devils

By Menna E. Jones. 2000

206 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The impact of road mortality on local populations of wildlife has rarely been quantified. In June 1991, the access road into the northern end of the Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park in Tasmania was widened and sealed. This occurred part-way through an ecological study of the dasyurid carnivore guild, during which populations were being monitored. In 17 months, the resident population of 19 eastern quolls became extinct and the devil population, of 39 individuals, halved. Concurrently, there was a dramatic increase in the number of road-kills. The main causal factor was probably an increase in modal speed of about 20 km h–1 and a greater increase in maximum speed. Measures were implemented to reduce the incidence of vehicle/wildlife collisions. Measures directed at people included physically slowing traffic speed (using ‘slow points’) and increasing driver awareness (signs and pamphlets). Those directed at wildlife included deterring wildlife from crossing the road in the path of approaching vehicles (wildlife reflectors), and encouraging escape off the road (ramps across gutters and banks, and pipes for shelter). The ‘slow points’ were effective in reducing vehicle speeds by 20 km h–1. Wildlife used the ramps and pipes. The eastern quoll population was re-establishing within six months, and after two years, had recovered to 50% of its former level. There was some indication that devil populations were recovering.

Subfields: Ecology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b96af8b0bc696dfd087fd4bd112c0284612d70ee

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In Ecology

Citations in the corpus

The value of monitoring wildlife roadkill (2020, unknown): “Tasmanian devils are also highly vulnerable to collisions with vehicles (Jones 2000), and collecting and testing of these roadkill devils assist in monitoring the spread of DFTD and have even identified a new strain of the pathogen (Pye et al. 2016).”
No single solution: application of behavioural principles in mitigating human–wildlife conflict (2016, background): “Vehicle collisions also pose severe threats to some terrestrial mammal species of conservation concern such as Florida panthers, Puma concolor coryi (Schwab & Zandbergen, 2011), eastern quolls, Dasyurus viverrinus, and Tasmanian devils, Sarcophilus laniarius (Jones, 2000).”
Why Did the Snake Cross the Road? Effects of Roads on Movement and Location of Mates by Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) (2004, background): “All these impacts may influence the continued viability of populations and, thus, have attracted increasing study from conservation biologists (Mader 1984, Reh 1989, Alexander and Waters 2000, Jones 2000, Lodé 2000).”
Temporal trends in use of fauna-friendly underpasses and overpasses (2008, unknown): “As a result, local populations of fauna frequently become marooned in increasingly isolated patches, inevitably increasing their susceptibility to decline and extirpation (Bennett 1991; Jones 2000; Goosem 2001; Taylor and Goldingay 2004).”
Activity patterns of urban red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) reduce the risk of traffic-induced mortality (2007, background): “…and movement behavior include road width, traffic volume, and traffic speed (Rolley and Lehman 1992; Romin and Bissonette 1996; Clarke et al. 1998; Jones 2000; Goosem 2001; Dyer et al. 2002; Clevenger et al. 2003; Kaczensky et al. 2003), although these components are generally highly correlated,…”