Higher mortality rates for large and medium-sized mammals on plantation roads compared to highways in Peninsular Malaysia

The fragmentation of forests by agricultural expansion, urbanisation and road networks is a global phenomenon. In Southeast Asia, wildlife populations are being isolated into pockets of natural habitat surrounded by road networks and monoculture plantations. Mortality by wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) is causing a decline in many species of conservation priority in human-modified landscapes. This study is the first in Malaysia to investigate factors affecting the occurrence of WVCs. We assessed roadkill data gathered by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks on small, medium and large mammals in Peninsular Malaysia. We examined the relationship between wildlife road accidents and environmental factors. We found a total of 605 roadkills, involving 21 species. Roadkill records included three species classified as endangered. Road type, year, and distance from continuous and fragmented forests were significant for determining mammal mortality. Unexpectedly, the majority of road ...

农业扩张、城市化进程与道路网络引发的森林破碎化是全球性现象。在东南亚地区，野生动物种群被分隔为零星分布的自然栖息地斑块，周遭被道路网络与单一栽培种植园环绕。野生动物与车辆碰撞（Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions, WVCs）导致的个体死亡，正致使人为干扰景观中诸多具有保护优先级的物种种群数量下降。本研究为马来西亚境内首个探究野生动物与车辆碰撞发生影响因素的学术研究。我们对马来西亚半岛由野生动物与国家公园局（Department of Wildlife and National Parks）收集的小型、中型及大型哺乳动物的道路致死数据开展了评估，并分析了野生动物道路事故与各类环境因素之间的关联。本次研究共计记录到605起道路致死事件，涉及21个物种，其中包含3个被列为濒危等级的物种。道路类型、年份，以及与连续森林和破碎化森林的距离，均为影响哺乳动物道路致死率的显著因子。出乎意料的是，多数道路...