Beckmann_frog behaviour on roads R data_20250701.xlsx

Roads are a major source of mortality for wildlife, particularly amphibians. Identifying vulnerable species, and understanding any behavioral predictors of mortality, helps us understand vulnerability to traffic and can inform on management strategies. We investigated a 9-species anuran community in tropical Australia with respect to three behavioral responses on roads: (1) proportion of time spent on road, (2) distance moved along road, and (3) direction moved along road. We also measured mortality of anurans due to collisions with road traffic that occurred during our observations, with the aim of assessing any link between mortality and on-road behavior and to size. We found no differences among species regarding behavior on roads, and no consistent predictors of behavior on roads. In accordance with these results, we also found no difference in road mortality among species. Our results indicate this anuran community is equally vulnerable to mortality via road traffic, indicating that any actions to reduce road-induced mortality are likely to be beneficial to the entire community (i.e., have high cost-effectiveness).