Roads constrain movement across behavioural processes in a partially migratory ungulate

Area of Science:

• Wildlife ecology
• Movement ecology
• Conservation biology

Background:

• Human infrastructure, particularly roads, acts as a significant barrier to wildlife movement globally.
• Roads can impede crucial ecological processes like dispersal and migration in ungulates, affecting population connectivity.
• Understanding how different movement modes (residence, migration, dispersal) influence road avoidance is vital for landscape planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of roads on European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) movement patterns.
• To evaluate potential differences in road avoidance behavior among resident, migratory, and dispersing roe deer.
• To assess the implications of road constraints on wildlife movement and functional connectivity in human-dominated landscapes.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 95 GPS trajectories from 6 European roe deer populations.
• Classification of movement modes (resident, migratory, disperser) using Net Squared Displacement and clustering algorithms.
• Integrated step selection analysis to assess the influence of landscape features, including roads, on movement.

Main Results:

• Roe deer exhibited diurnal shifts in habitat use, preferring forests during the day and open areas at night.
• Road crossings were consistently avoided, with avoidance levels not differing between movement modes.
• When road crossings occurred, they were more probable during longer movement steps and within forested areas.

Conclusions:

• Roads pose a substantial constraint on roe deer movement across all movement modes and populations.
• This avoidance behavior can limit functional connectivity, particularly affecting migrating and dispersing individuals.
• The findings highlight the need to consider road impacts in conservation strategies for maintaining wildlife corridors.