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To Download the PDF File The effects of species behavioural responses to roads and life history traits on their population level responses to roads by Trina Rytwinski A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biology Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario ©2012 Trina Rytwinski Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du 1+1 Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-93680-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-93680-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Canada Abstract There is now a growing body of evidence that roads and traffic reduce populations of a wide variety of species (Fahrig and Rytwinski, 2009; Benftez-Lopez et al., 2010), and efforts to mitigate road effects are now common in new highway construction projects (Beckmann and Hilty, 2010). To ensure mitigation will be effective at reducing/eliminating road related impacts on wildlife, it is important to have some validated theory that allows us to predict which species or species groups are most vulnerable to road effects at the population level, and the likely causes of those impacts, so that mitigation efforts can be tailored to those species. The overarching goal of my dissertation is to advance our understanding of the circumstances in which roads affect population persistence. In Chapter 1,1 conducted extensive field surveys to quantify the relationships between road density and abundance for a wide range of mammal species in eastern Ontario. My results show that mammal species with lower reproductive rates, greater mobilities, and larger body sizes are more susceptible to negative road/traffic effects at the population level. In Chapter 2 ,1 broadened the scope of the investigation by using a meta­ analysis to combine empirical results of population level effects of roads from studies across the globe and on multiple taxa, to identify the species or species groups whose populations are most likely to be reduced by roads. These results confirm that wide-ranging large mammals with low reproductive rates are more susceptible to negative road effects at the population level. In addition, they indicate that birds with larger territories, all amphibians and reptiles, and species that do not avoid roads or are disturbed by traffic are susceptible to negative road effects. In Chapter 3 ,1 used a simulation model to develop general hypotheses and predictions specifically of the circumstances leading to neutral and positive effects of roads on population abundance. My results suggest that there are many species and situations for which road mitigation is not necessary. Taken together, my results demonstrate that priority for mitigation should be directed towards wide-ranging large mammals with low reproductive rates, birds with larger territories, and all amphibians and reptiles. More generally, mitigation should focus on species that do not avoid roads or are disturbed by traffic, and on all large species types. Preface Co-authorship Statement My contributions to the research described in this thesis were: (1) I proposed and developed the research questions in corporation with Dr. Lenore Fahrig, and was primarily responsible for the design of the projects used to address these questions; (2) I carried out all field work for chapter 1; (3) I analysed all of the data; and (4) I wrote all first drafts of the chapters/manuscripts. This thesis is formated using the integrated thesis format and therefore each data chapter was formatted as an independent research article that has either been published in or was submitted to a peer-reviewed journal when this thesis was completed. There is some repetition in introductions and discussion, however I have cross-referenced between chapters to reduce repetition as much as possible. As indicated above, I performed the majority of the work described in this thesis. However, Dr. Lenore Fahrig contributed significantly during the conception and writing phases of the three chapters described herein. I have permission from each publisher to reproduce published manuscripts in my thesis. I have also received permission from my co-author (Dr. Lenore Fahrig) to use the work in this thesis. A specific chapter that has been published elsewhere must be cited using the journal citation information provided below. However, to reference my thesis as a whole or an unpublished chapter, I recommend using the following citation: Rytwinski, T., 2012. The effects of species behavioural responses to roads and life history traits on their population level responses to roads. PhD Thesis, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Chapters - Manuscript status at time of thesis completion 1 - Rytwinski, T., Fahrig, L., 2011. Reproductive rate and body size predict road impacts on mammal abundance. Ecological Applications 21, 589-600. Publisher: Ecological Society of America. 2 - Rytwinski, T., Fahrig, L., 2012. Do species life history traits explain population responses to roads? A meta-analysis. Biological Conservation 147, 87-98. Publisher: Elsevier. 3 - Rytwinski, T., Fahrig, L. Why are some animal populations unaffected or positively affected by roads? Oecologia (submitted July 2012). Publisher: Springer. This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Deborah Anne Rytwinski (1953-2003) Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Lenore Fahrig, for her unwaivering guidance, encouragement, and advice over the years of my graduate career. Lenore has been by all definitions a mentor to me, a relationship that I hope will continue. A special thank you as well to my advisory committee - Dr. David Currie, Dr. Naomi Cappuccino, and Dr. Lutz Tischendorf - your comments and advice throughout my PhD has greatly improved the quality of this thesis. Many, many thanks to all the past and present GLEL members that I have had the pleasure of sharing time with during my PhD. Thank you all for your advice, friendship, and at times, much needed distractions, during our time in the lab, in particular Felix Eigenbrod, Sara Gagne, Glenn Cunnington, Leif Olson, Adam Smith, Jude Girard, Keith Munro, Ashley McLaren, Patty Summers, Amanda Martin, Pauline Quesnelle, Theresa Patenaude, Sean Feagan, Heather Coffey, Alex Dorland, Heather Bird Jackson, and Nathan Jackson. You have all made my graduate experience that much more enjoyable. I would also like to say a heartfelt thank you to both Dave Omond and Dan Bert - two vital and irreplaceable people associated with the lab - thank you for all your logistical help whether technical or field work related. I am also very grateful to the hardworking field assistants I had during one of my field seasons - Kaitlin Wilson and Trisha Mackie. I would also like to thank the staff of the Biology department, in particular Marija Gojmerac, Laura Thomas, Jane MacArthur, Mike Weber, Sanja Hinic-Frlog, Jussi Helava, and Joan Mallet. You have made my time at Carleton so much more enjoyable. vii I owe a huge thank you to my wonderful friends and family for their support and encouragement over the years. I feel extremely fortunate to have people like you in my life. To my dear friends, Amy, Michelle and Joanne, thank you for your endless support and genuine encouragement in whatever endeavor I undertake. I am forever indebted to my parents, Joseph and Debbie Rytwinski and to my brother Matt, for their love, understanding and support. To my wonderful husband and best friend, Greg Kauffeldt, I know I started down this path before you came into my life, I’m just so happy and thankful to be sharing it and the rest of my life with you. Funding for this dissertation came from a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Canada Foundation for Innovation grants to L. Fahrig. I
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