Highways associated with expansion of boreal scavengers into the alpine tundra of Fennoscandia

1) Habitat fragmentation may affect species distributions through, for example, altered resource availability and shifts in species interactions. Fragmentation by roads has had negative impacts on Fennoscandian alpine ecosystems, with reduction of habitats and connectivity for alpine species. Concurrently, infrastructure development cause influx of subsidies through roadkills and litter, which may facilitate expansion of boreal scavenging species, such as the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), which may intensify negative interactions with alpine species. Hence, understanding the impact of subsidies within marginal alpine areas is imperative for successful conservation and management of particularly vulnerable alpine species.

2) We used snow tracking and camera traps in three alpine tundra areas in Norway to investigate whether the presence of boreal scavengers were positively associated with highways during winter, and if this contrasted the pattern of a critically endangered alpine species, ...