The effects of a motorway on movement behaviour and gene flow in a forest carnivore: joint evidence from road mortality, radio tracking and genetics.

Roads represent barriers to animal movement due to physical obstruction, mortality, or behavioural avoidance. The population-level consequences of such constraints remain poorly understood, because successful crossings may be sufficient to counteract negative effects of fragmentation and isolation. Here we examine the individual- and population-level barrier effects of a motorway on the common genet Genetta genetta, by combining long-term road mortality, radio tracking and population genetics data. We found 84 genets killed at roads, of which 68% were subadults, with a peak mortality during the dispersal period. The home ranges of resident adults often bordered the motorway, and their sizes were similar close to (314 ha, n = 9) and far from (258 ha, n = 10) the motorway. The crossing rate was much higher for dispersing subadults (4.1 crossings/100 nights, n = 3) than for resident adults living near the motorway (0.2 crossings/100 nights, n = 9), though the number of tracked subadults crossing the motorway was low. Genetic kinship analysis revealed seven crossings based on father-offspring and half-sibling relationships. There was no significant genetic differentiation related to the motorway. The movement of residents were strongly constrained by the motorway, though gene flow mediated by successful crossings, particularly by subadults, likely prevented genetic differentiation. Genet movements across the motorway were probably facilitated by low traffic flow and the presence of crossing structures. Our study implies that evaluating mitigation strategies to reduce the barrier effects of roads would benefit from the integration of mortality, animal behaviour, and population genetics data, to increase effectiveness and avoid wasting scarce conservation resources.

Datos y Recursos

Cite como

Carvalho F. Lourenço A. Carvalho R. Alves P.C. Mira A. y Beja P. The effects of a motorway on movement behaviour and gene flow in a forest carnivore: joint evidence from road mortality radio tracking and genetics. Elsevier, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.06.007

Clipboard Icon
Recuperado: 06 Nov 2025 21:48:15
RIS BibTeX

Metadatos
Descargar
DCAT-AP/NTI-RISP

Información básica
Tipo de recurso Texto
Fecha de creación 23-05-2025
Fecha de última modificación 23-05-2025
Mostrar histórico de cambios
Identificador de los metadatos dd2ec434-eb84-5ee8-91c1-4ea6b894262d
Idioma de los metadatos Español
Temáticas (NTI-RISP)
Categoría del conjunto de alto valor (HVD)
Categoría temática ISO 19115 biota
URI de palabras clave
Información bibliográfica
Nombre del autor Carvalho, F., Lourenço, A., Carvalho, R., Alves, P.C., Mira, A. y Beja, P.
Nombre del editor Elsevier
Identificador alternativo DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.06.007
Identificador del autor
Email del autor
Web del autor
Procedencia
Declaración de linaje
Perfil de Metadatos
Notas sobre la versión
Versión