Species traits as predictors of road-avoidance responses in African ungulates Margarita Mulero-Pázmány1, Daniela Duffett2, Marcello D’Amico3, Manuela González-Suárez2 1 Liverpool John Moores University, UK 2 University of Reading, UK 3 CIBIO-InBIO, Portugal. Road-networks have negative effects in ecosystems, even in protected areas Road-kills Avoidance road-effect zones Barrier effects Population fragmentation, genetic isolation and local extinction Fragmentation-road and traffic Road Surface avoidance (pavement) avoidance Habitat interruption avoidance Emissions Light, sound, chemical pollution avoidance Vehicle Avoidance only when vehicles pass avoidance Could trait models help explaining Road Ecology? Traits: Rytwinski y Fahrig (2012) Do species life history traits morphology explain population responses to roads? A meta-analysis. sociality Biological Conservation. foraging reproduction lifespan D’Amico et al. (2012) Vertebrate road-kill patterns in Mediterranean habitats: who, when and where. Biological Conservation. Mulero-Pázmány et al. 2015. Impalas on the road: assessing ungulate behavioral responses to the heterogeneous road-network of Kruger National Park. J Zool. González-Suárez, et al. 2017. J Zool. Data: Ungulates in roads of South African PAs Pilanesberg, Hluhluwe Imfolozi, uMkhuze. 66 transects * 2. 722 km. 2016 Paved/unpaved, variable traffic Data Collection and Analysis Response variables: Flight response Distances to road Explanatory variables: Traits: lifespan, morphology, foraging, sociality, reproduction *Control: road type, park, habitat, traffic, taxonomic. Generalized linear mixed effects models Results Species (18) HiP uMkhu Pilan Total Impala 74 16 54 144 White Rhino 55 0 10 65 PAVED UNPAVED Blue Wildebeest 9 1 47 57 Zebra 26 0 30 56 Sightings/10km 6.35 7.53 Warthog 37 0 10 47 Traffic/min 0.26 0.08 Giraffe 17 2 16 35 Nyala 24 11 0 35 TRAFFIC/min African Buffalo 14 0 0 14 African Elephant 5 0 7 12 Pilanesberg HiP uMkhuze Greater Kudu 4 1 7 12 0.19 0.12 0.03 Springbok 0 0 7 7 Steenbok 0 0 6 6 Waterbuck 1 0 5 6 Common Hippo 0 0 5 5 Grey Duiker 3 2 0 5 Common Tsessebe 0 0 3 3 African Black Rhino 1 0 1 2 Hartebeest 0 0 2 2 Total 270 34 211 513 Results and Discussion Species traits: - Body size - Diet - Sociality - Brain size - Longevity - Reproduction Small species, browsers and solitary are more sensible to roads and traffic. Future steps Other species and habitats-COLLABORATION? Thanks to: -HiP, Pilanesberg, uMkhuze authorities -Wendy Collinson Invitation to publish [email protected].