Effects of roads on badgers in SW
England
Journal
Biological
Conservation - Volume
86, Issue 2 , November 1998, Pages 117-124
Authors
G. Philip Clarke, Piran C. L. White, and Stephen
Harris from the University of York and University of Bristol
Abstract
Roads have two major impacts on the landscape with respect to badger
populations: (1) the imposition of barriers that reduce or prevent dispersal,
and (2) the increased mortality caused by road traffic.
Road traffic is the
largest single cause of recorded death for badgers in
Britain. We used data collected by the MAFF during the mid-1980s to quantify the effects of roads on badger populations
in south-west England. The probability of badger fatalities per km were
expressed as ratios of the number of road deaths per unit length of road for
different classes of roads. The relationship between badger road deaths and
traffic load appeared to be asymptotic. Despite large differences in traffic
load and traffic flow on motorways, dual carriageways, class A and class B
roads, they all had similar rates of badger fatalities per unit length of road,
which were approximately six times greater than that for class C roads. These
results suggest that high traffic loads may discourage badgers from attempting
to cross major roads, and that these may therefore reduce movements between
adjacent groups. Traffic levels on Britain's roads have already increased by 26%
since these data were collected. As traffic loads increase further in the next
century, the mortality and fragmentation effects of roads on badger populations
locally are likely to become increasingly significant.
Keywords
Badger; Roads; Traffic; Fragmentation;
Mortality.
Web site
Elsevier B.V.
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