Factors affecting road mortality and the suitability of road verges for butterflies
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Data
2013-03-31Autor
Skórka, Piotr
Lenda, Magdalena
Moroń, Dawid
Kalarus, Konrad
Tryjanowski, Piotr
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Little is known of the impact of roads on insect mortality. This is a significant gap, because road verges are
regarded as an important tool for insect conservation. In this study, we investigated which factors affect
the number of roadkills in grassland butterflies and, simultaneously, the species composition and abundance
on road verges. We established sixty transects, two hundred metres long, on roads in farmland
areas and with differing traffic volume. Each transect consisted of two parallel lines, one on either side
of the road. Ordination methods showed that the species composition of the butterflies killed on the
roads was primarily explained by the species composition of those living on the road verges. At least
6.8% of the butterflies were estimated to end up roadkilled. Also, the number of species and abundance
of butterflies killed on the roads were positively dependent on both the abundance of butterflies on the
road verges and on the traffic volume, but negatively correlated with the richness of plant species on the
road verges. However, the proportion of individuals killed was negatively linked with the abundance of
butterflies on the road verges, the richness of the plant species and the share of grassland in the landscape.
There was a statistically significant tendency for small-bodied species to be overrepresented in
the roadkill samples. Our results indicate that the verges which were of high conservation value for butterflies
suffered the least from road mortality. The sowing of plant species, less frequent mowing and
maintaining a high grassland cover in the vicinity of roads are recommended conservation actions for
the improved conservation value of road verges for butterflies.
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