A standardised protocol for roadkill detection and the determinants of roadkill in the greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Despite evidence suggesting that road traffic is a major threat to biodiversity loss, very little is known about its actual impact on wildlife populations in South Africa. Globally, road density and traffic volumes are increasing, and although huge budgets are devoted to the construction and upgrading of roads, there is little or no allocation to mitigation measures for protecting fauna in most countries, particularly Africa. Further, no global standardised protocol exists for the rapid assessment of roadkill or the most economical and efficient approach for assessing roadkill rates. Using vehicle field trials, the reliability of detecting artificially deployed roadkill was assessed. Roadkill detection rates decreased significantly at speeds >50 km/h and were also significantly influenced by light conditions (i.e. detection success was greater when the sun was high) and the position of the roadkill on the road (i.e. smaller roadkill on verges were often missed). These results suggest that roadkill sampling was most effective between 1.5 hours after dawn and 1.5 hours before dusk and that driving at slower speeds (<50 km.h⁻ₑ) was required to detect roadkill. This protocol was implemented across three ecological seasons on a 100 km paved road and a 20 km unpaved road in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Driven daily over a 120-day period (three periods consisting each of 40 days), a total of 1,027 roadkill were recorded. These comprised 162 species from all terrestrial vertebrate groups with birds being the most commonly encountered roadkill (50% of all incidents). The high numbers of vertebrates identified as roadkill suggests that road traffic could have potentially unsustainable impacts on wildlife populations and hence the biodiversity of the area. Seventeen variables were identified as possible determinants of roadkill occurrence with season, rainfall, minimum and maximum temperature, habitat type, grass height, grass density, fence type and vehicle type significantly influencing roadkill numbers. Significantly more roadkill were detected on the paved road (9.91/100km) than on the unpaved road (1.8/100km) probably because of greater traffic volumes and the increased speed that vehicles travelled on the paved road. Warmer temperatures and increased rainfall in the preceding 24 hours also increased road mortality numbers as animals tended to become more active during these times. Interestingly, more roadkill was detected in open roadside habitats compared to dense roadside habitats on both the paved and unpaved roads and when grass on the roadside verge was of intermediate height. Open habitat possibly may provide a natural corridor for wildlife which ultimately end up on the road. Roadkill numbers increased when certain other physical barriers, such as cattle fences, were present, probably because these barriers were more penetrable than electric fencing. A series of mitigation measures are proposed to reduce the impacts of roads on wildlife in South Africa. These mitigation measures highlight the need to address the balance between the development of a country’s transport infrastructure and the conservation of its fauna. It is important that research on the impacts of roads becomes standardised to enable robust statistical comparisons which will provide a greater understanding of the potential threats to vertebrate biodiversit

Anthropause opportunities: Experimental perturbation of road traffic and the potential effects on wildlife

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic severely reduced many human activities. So pronounced was the change, it has given rise to the term “anthropause”: the considerable alteration of modern human activities. Among these was surface transportation, with prolonged traffic reductions, in excess, of 50% in many countries. Roads and traffic are responsible for functionally fragmenting ecosystems, wildlife populations, and species interactions. The unintentional “dialing-down” of traffic has given continuous monitoring systems of wildlife-vehicle conflict a unique opportunity to study the consequences of perturbing this source of wildlife disturbance and mortality. Experimental manipulation of traffic at the global scale would not have been possible without mitigation responses to SARS-CoV-2. Such a perturbation allows robust empirical investigation into wildlife responses to traffic, including changes in mortality, behavior, genetic connectivity, and knock-on ecosystem effects, the responses to which can be replicated across a global network of wildlife-vehicle conflict monitoring systems. We review the extent to which these extensive data-collection systems provide the primary source of data to study many of these responses, providing the raw material to understand some striking wildlife consequences of the anthropause

Status of road ecology research in Africa : do we understand the impacts of roads, and how to successfully mitigate them?

Across Africa, transport infrastructure, including roads, is being built in over 30 planned development corridors that are likely to have major impacts on remaining natural habitats and associated biodiversity. Linked to this is the projected increase in human population size, which is predicted to grow by 1.3 billion people by 2050. Road ecology is the study of the ecological effects (both positive and negative) of roads and traffic but is perceived to be under-researched in Africa. In this context, we undertook a systematic review of road ecology research in Africa to understand the geographic and taxonomic scope of work undertaken to date, as well as recommendations for reducing the impacts of roads. We discovered 210 road ecology publications from Africa (published between 1954 and 2016), with most publications from the more affluent and politically stable regions (e.g., southern and East Africa). We found more publications than expected, with relevant research concealed within studies whose primary focus was on other topics. Most publications (1) focused on single species, and in particular on mammals (where chimpanzees and forest elephants were most studied); (2) were from southern Africa; and 3) were conducted in the grassland and savannah biome and the tropical and subtropical forest biome. Most publications examined the direct impacts of roads, in particular wildlife-vehicle collisions. Only one-third of the publications provided some form of recommendation for intervention to reduce or mitigate the impacts of roads, based on evidence from the publication. Most recommended interventions related to ecosystem or natural process recreation, as well as site and area stewardship. Gaps and future directions for research include rigorous testing of measures to mitigate the impacts of roads, inclusion of traffic monitoring in studies, understanding the impacts of upgrading roads, and exploring livelihood, economic and moral incentives and education and training as potential interventions for reducing the impacts of roads. Our review has highlighted the need for accelerating the study of the impacts of roads on natural habitats and biodiversity, in light of planned large-scale infrastructure development, and especially the study of appropriate mitigation measures that can be rigorously assessed and implemented before and during construction and upgrading of roads in Africa.http://www.frontiersin.org/Ecology_and_Evolutionam2020Mammal Research Institut

Research encounters, reflexivity and supervision

Reflexivity in qualitative and ethnographic social science research can provide a rich source of data, especially regarding the affective, performative and relational aspects of interviews with research subjects. This paper explores by means of three case examples different ways of accessing and using such reflexivity. The examples are drawn from an empirical psycho-social study into the identity transitions of first-time mothers in an inner-city multicultural environment. Fieldnotes and supervision were used to engage with researcher subjectivity, to enhance the productive use of reflexivity and to address the emotional work of research. The methodology of the supervision was psychoanalytic, in its use of a boundaried frame and of psychoanalytic forms of noticing oneself, of staying engaged emotionally as well as creating a reflective distance. The examples illustrate how this can enhance the knowledge gained about the research subjects

An inventory of vertebrate roadkill in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area, South Africa

Using a standard protocol, we conducted vertebrate roadkill surveys in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area (GMTFCA), South Africa, which is a World Heritage Site. A total of 991 roadkill were recorded on the paved roads and 36 roadkill on the unpaved roads. Identifiable roadkill comprised 162 species from 24 orders and 65 families. Ninety-three roadkill could not be identified to species level. Roadkill counts were strongly influenced by road type and season. More roadkill was recorded on the paved than the unpaved roads. Irrespective of road type, the proportion of roadkill was greatest in the hot/wet season (4.3 paved roadkill/km/day paved and 1.3 roadkill/km/day unpaved) and lowest in the cold/dry season (2.0 roadkill/km/day paved and 0.1 roadkill/km/day unpaved). The high numbers of vertebrates identified as roadkill suggests that road traffic has the potential to directly and negatively affect biodiversity conservation in this part of South Africa. We recommend continued roadkill data collection across South Africa to assist with creating an inventory of species most likely to be at risk from roads. This will, in turn, better inform the implementation of potential mitigation measures.This research was initiated by the Endangered Wildlife Trust, with funding from Bridgestone South Africa.http://www.sawma.co.zaam201

Contamination within trials of community based public health interventions : lessons from the HENRY feasibility study

Introduction Contamination occurs when participants allocated to trial control arms receive elements of the active intervention. Randomisation at cluster level, rather than individual level, may reduce or eliminate contamination, avoiding the dilution of intervention effectiveness that it may cause. However, cluster randomisation can result in selection bias and may not be feasible to deliver. We explored the extent of contamination in a qualitative study nested within a feasibility study of HENRY (Health, Exercise and Nutrition for the Really Young); a UK community-based child obesity prevention programme. We aimed to determine the nature and impact of contamination to inform a larger planned trial and other trials in community based public health settings. Method We invited participants to take part in the nested qualitative study who were already involved in the HENRY feasibility study. Semi-structured interviews/focus groups were conducted with children’s centre managers (n=7), children’s centre staff (n=15), and parents (n=29). Data were transcribed and analysed using an integrative approach. First, deductively organised using a framework guided by the topic guide and then organised using inductive thematic analysis. Results Potential for contamination between treatment arms was recognised by all stakeholder groups. Staff within the intervention centres presented the greatest risk of contamination, predominantly because they were often asked to work in other children centre’s (including control group centres). ‘Sharing of best practice’ by staff was reported to be a common and desirable phenomenon within community based settings. Parental sharing of HENRY messages was reported inconsistently; though some parents indicated a high degree of knowledge transfer within their immediate circles. Conclusions The extent of contamination identified has influenced the design of a future effectiveness trial of HENRY which will be clustered at the centre level (with geographically distinct clusters). The common practice of knowledge sharing amongst community teams means that this clustering approach is also likely to be most suitable for other trials based within these settings. We provide recommendations (e.g. cluster randomisation, training intervention facilitators on implications of contamination) to help reduce the impact of contamination in public health intervention trials with or without clustering, whilst enabling transfer of knowledge where appropriate. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03333733 registered 6th November 201

Optimising the cost of roadkill surveys based on an analysis of carcass persistence

Reliable estimates of wildlife mortality due to wildlife-vehicle collisions are key to understanding its impact on wildlife populations and developing strategies to prevent or reduce collisions. Standardised approaches for monitoring roadkill are needed to derive robust and unbiased estimates of mortality that are comparable across different study systems and ecological contexts. When designing surveys, there is a trade-off between survey frequency (and hence logistical effort and financial cost) and carcass detection. In this regard, carcass persistence (the period a carcass remains detectable before being removed by decomposition or scavengers) is important; the longer a carcass persists, the greater the likelihood it will be detected with lower survey effort by conducting more infrequent surveys. Using multi-taxon carcass data collected over a month of repeated driven surveys, combined with five covariates (species functional group, body weight, carcass position on road, carcass condition [either flattened or not after impact], and rainfall prior to each survey), we explored the drivers of carcass persistence with the overall aim of providing information to optimise the design of carcass surveys along linear infrastructure. Our methodological approach included a survival analysis to determine carcass persistence, linear regressions to test the effect of covariates, a subsampling analysis (using field data and a simulation exercise) to assess how the proportion of carcasses detected changes according to survey frequency, and an analysis to compare the costs of surveys based on study duration, transect length and survey frequency. Mean overall carcass persistence was 2.7 days and was significantly correlated with position on road and within-functional group body weight. There was no evidence for a significant effect of rainfall, while the effect of carcass condition was weakly non-significant. The proportion of carcasses detected decreased sharply when survey intervals were longer than three days. However, we showed that survey costs can be reduced by up to 80% by conducting non-daily surveys. Expanding on the call for a standardised methodology for roadkill surveys, we propose that carcass persistence be explicitly considered during survey design. By carefully considering the objectives of the survey and characteristics of the focal taxa, researchers can substantially reduce logistical costs. In addition, we developed an R Shiny web app that can be used by practitioners to compare survey costs across a variety of survey characteristics. This web app will allow practitioners to easily assess the trade-off between carcass detection and logistical effort.De Beers Group of Companies, Oppenheimer Generations, and Mopane Bush Lodge. This research was initiated by the Endangered Wildlife Trust, with funding from Bridgestone South Africa.https://www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman2022-05-08hj2022Mammal Research Institut

A Global Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Transport and other Linear Infrastructure

The current Global Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Transport and other Linear Infrastructure primarily sets up the objectives and principles for governments and organizations for mainstreaming biodiversity and ecological connectivity on transport infrastructure development. Additionally, it addresses the overall framework of stakeholders who must be engaged as key players in: • launching proactive policies, • establishing appropriate legal frameworks, • supporting better planning, • promoting multi-sector cooperation, and • encouraging innovative science-based solutions. We consider this as a living document as future versions may integrate additional elements with regards to governance, policy, and financing, in the attempt to develop a common comprehensive language and grounds for cooperation. This “Global Strategy” has been developed by an international working group coordinated by IENE and supported by an international coalition formed from the international conferences on transport and ecology and conservation organisations as IENE, ICOET, ANET, ACLIE, WWF and IUCN. The working group is drawn from global experts in transport and ecology and aims to work towards finding a ‘win-win’ solution for securing mainstreaming biodiversity and ecological connectivity and avoiding, mitigating, or compensating ecosystems’ fragmentation during transport infrastructure development or adaptation. This Strategy builds upon five years of development of the guidelines “International Guidance for Ecologically - Friendly Linear Infrastructure (IGELI)” initiated at the ICOET 2015 conference in North Carolina, USA. IGELI was an international debate with experts from all over the world continued during workshops held at the international conferences of IENE (Lyon, France, 2016 and Eindhoven, Holland, 2018), ICOET (Salt Lake City, USA, 2017 and Sacramento, USA, 2019), IUCN (Hawaii, USA, 2016) and ACLIE (Kruger National Park, South Africa, 2019). Summarising the Decision 14/3 on mainstreaming of biodiversity in the energy and mining, infrastructure, manufacturing, and processing sectors (CBD/ COP/DEC/14/3/30 November 2018) of 14th COP CBD (Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, Nov 2018) (Convention on Biological Diversity 2018), the international coalition of the working group, initiated to promote the Strategy at the CBD COP 15 in China. We hope, this Strategy provides a useful tool and roadmap for promoting the urgent need of supporting biodiversity conservation and securing ecological connectivity at all scales of governance, policies, planning and implementation of transport projects internationally. The creation of an International Observatory for monitoring the fragmentation status globally as an important threat for biodiversity loss is proposed as a common ambition of the working group members and their organizations.IENE, ICOET, ANET, ACLIE, WWF, IUCN, WWF, WCPA, Connectivity Conservation Specialist Grou

Road infrastructure and primate conservation : introducing the Global primate roadkill database

As road infrastructure networks rapidly expand globally, especially in the tropics, previously continuous habitats are being fragmented, resulting in more frequent wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVC). Primates are widespread throughout many sub-/tropical countries, and as their habitats are fragmented, they are increasingly at risk of WVC. We created the Global Primate Roadkill Database (GPRD), the largest available standardized database of primate roadkill incidents. We obtained data from published papers, un-published and citizen science databases, anecdotal reports, news reports, and social media posts. Here, we describe the collection methods for the GPRD and present the most up-to-date version of the database in full. For each primate roadkill incident, we recorded the species killed, the exact location, and the year and month the roadkill was observed. At the time of publication, the GPRD includes 2862 individual primate roadkill records from 41 countries. As primates range in more than twice as many countries, the absence of data from these countries is not necessarily indicative of a lack of primate vehicular collisions. Given the value of these data for addressing both local and global research questions, we encourage conservationists and citizen scientists to contribute to the GPRD so that, together, we can better understand the impact road infrastructure has on primates and evaluate measures which may help mitigate risk-prone areas or species