Data from: Road avoidance and its energetic consequences for reptiles

Roads are one of the most widespread human-caused habitat modifications
that can increase wildlife mortality rates and alter behaviour. Roads can
act as barriers with variable permeability to movement and can increase
distances wildlife travel to access habitats. Movement is energetically
costly, and avoidance of roads could therefore impact an animal's
energy budget. We tested whether reptiles avoid roads or road crossings
and explored whether the energetic consequences of road avoidance
decreased individual fitness. Using telemetry data from Blanding's
turtles (Emydoidea blandingii; 11,658 locations of 286 turtles from 15
sites) and eastern massasaugas (Sistrurus catenatus; 1868 locations of 49
snakes from 3 sites), we compared frequency of observed road crossings and
use of road-adjacent habitat by reptiles to expected frequencies based on
simulated correlated random walks. Turtles and snakes did not avoid
habitats near roads, but both species avoided road crossings. Compared to
simulations, turtles made fewer crossings of paved roads with low speed
limits, and more crossings of paved roads with high speed limits. Snakes
made fewer crossings of all road types than expected based on simulated
paths. Turtles travelled longer daily distances when their home range
contained roads, but the predicted energetic cost was negligible:
substantially less than the cost of producing one egg. Snakes with roads
in their home range did not travel further per day than snakes without
roads in their home range. We found that turtles and snakes avoided
crossing roads, but road avoidance is unlikely to impact fitness through
energetic expenditures. Therefore, mortality from vehicle strikes remains
the most significant impact of roads on reptile populations.