Abstract
We investigated the roadkills of vertebrates in Ishinomaki City, northern Japan, for 1 full year (from April 2020 to March 2021), and attention was paid to (1) locations where the roadkill occurred, (2) the relationship between roadkill frequency and traffic volume, and (3) seasonality of roadkills and relationship with life events of target species. Over the study period, we recorded 1059 roadkill cases (2.9 records/day) from at least twenty-six vertebrates, among which three mammals (raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides, domestic cat Felis catus, and sika deer Cervus nippon) accounted for more than 75% of the total cases. The locations where frequent roadkills occurred were species-specific as follows: suburban areas for raccoon dogs, within urban areas for cats, and forests, especially peninsula areas, for deer. Roadkill frequency (per kilometer) for raccoon dogs and cats showed a positive correlation with traffic volume, indicating that the prevention of animals from crossing roads would be an effective strategy of mitigating roadkills of these animals. Roadkills of raccoon dogs occurred frequently during fall (September–October), a season that corresponds to their dispersal period. Such seasonality was not found for roadkills of cats (probably due to altered life as pets) and deer (attributed to low seasonal changes in home range utilization). We suggest that management strategies can be adopted to mitigate roadkills from the viewpoint of the behavioral characteristics of target mammals.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Ascensão F, Yogui DR, Alves MH, Alves AC, Abra F, Desbiez ALJ (2021) Preventing wildlife roadkill can offset mitigation investments in short-medium term. Biol Cons 253:108902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108902
Canova L, Balestrieri A (2019) Long-term monitoring by roadkill counts of mammal populations living in intensively cultivated landscapes. Biodiv Cons 28:97–113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-018-1638-3
Freitas SR, Hawbaker TJ, Metzger JP (2010) Effects of roads, topography, and land use on forest cover dynamics in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. For Ecol Manag 259:410–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2009.10.036
Furukawa M, Yoda K, Tsuji Y (2022) A survey of mammalian and avian fauna in University Forest of the Ishinomaki Senshu University, Miyagi Prefecture, using sensor cameras. Hum Nat 32:133–140
Grilo C, Borda-de-Água L, Beja P, Goolsby E, Soanes K, le Roux A, Koroleva E, Ferreira FZ, Gagné SA, Wang Y, González-Suárez M, Meyer C (2021) Conservation threats from roadkill in the global road network. Global Ecol Biogeogr 30:2200–2210. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13375
Ikeda H (1983) Development of young and parental care of raccoon dog, Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus TEMMINCK, in captivity. J Mamm Soc Jpn 9:229–236
Ishinomaki City (2022) Statistical Information. https://www.city.ishinomaki.lg.jp/foreign.html. Accessed 2022.8.10
Japan Meteorological Agency (2022) https://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/ Accessed 2022.8.10
Jingu S, Sakata K, Ito T (2019) Characteristics of roadkill records collected by local government: evaluating its utility for monitoring. J Jpn Inst Landscape Architecture 82:725–728. https://doi.org/10.5632/jila.82.725
Kaji K, Iijima H (2017) Sika Deer in Japan: The Science and Management of Overabundant Populations. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, p 256
Kays R, Dunn RR, Parsons AW, Mcdonald B, Perkins T, Powers SA, Shell L, McDonald JL, Cole H, Kikillus H, Woods L, Tindle H, Roetman P (2020) The small home ranges and large local ecological impacts of pet cats. Anim Cons 23:516–523. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12563
Kinoshita A, Yamamoto Y (1996) Research on raccoon dog, Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus in Kawasaki (III). Report of Nature Research in Kawasaki City 7:13–18
Kondo K (2019) Mammal carcasses collected in Nasu-Shiobara City (2012–2017). Bull Nasunogahara Museum 15:7–16
Kreling SES, Gaynor KM, Coon CAC (2019) Roadkill distribution at the wildland-urban interface. J Wildl Manag 83:1427–1436. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21692
Lester D (2015) Effective wildlife roadkill mitigation. J Traffic Transp Eng 3:42–51. https://doi.org/10.17265/2328-2142/2015.01.005
Liu J, Coomes DA, Gibson L, Hu G, Liu J, Luo Y, Wu C, Yu M (2019) Forest fragmentation in China and its effect on biodiversity. Biol Rev 94:1636–1657. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12519
MacDonald ML, Rogers QR, Morris JG (1984) Nutrition of the domestic cat, a mammalian carnivore. Ann Rev Nut 4:521–562. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.nu.04.070184.002513
Magnus Z, Kriwoken L, Mooney NJ, Jones ME (2004) Reducing the Incidence of Wildlife Roadkill: Improving the Visitor Experience in Tasmania. A Technical Report. Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism, Tasmania, p 35
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism of Japan (2015) https://www.mlit.go.jp/road/census/h27/data/pdf/kasyo04.pdf. Accessed 2022.8.10
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism of Japan (2022) https://www.mlit.go.jp/report/press/road01_hh_001530.html. Accessed 2022.8.10
Miyagi Prefecture (2022a) 3rd Management Plan of Sika Deer in Miyagi Prefecture. https://www.pref.miyagi.jp/soshiki/sizenhogo/sika-kanrikeikaku.html. Accessed 2022.8.10
Miyagi Prefecture (2022b) Road in Miyagi Prefecture. https://www.pref.miyagi.jp/documents/20925/r3miyaginodoro.pdf. Accessed 2022.8.10
Miyamoto A, Tamanaha S, Watari Y (2021) Landscape features of endangered Ryukyu long-furred rat (Diplothrix legata) roadkill sites in Yambaru, Okinawa-jima Island. J For Res 26:201–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/13416979.2021.1887437
Noguchi K, Kaneko Y (2012) Age structures of the raccoon dog, Nyctereutes procyonoides, killed in traffic accidents in the east of Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kagawa Seibutsu 39:77–82
Nishio T, Takada MB, Uno H, Sato Y, Yanagawa H (2013) Factors influencing road-kill frequency of red fox Vulpes vulpes with attention to the effects of landscape structure and harvest of sika deer Cervus nippon yesoensis for nuisance control and hunting in eastern Hokkaido, Japan. Mamm Sci 53:301–310. https://doi.org/10.11238/mammalianscience.53.301
Osaka M, Okamura M (2012) Spatiotemporal patterns of endangered species roadkill: Iriomote cat-vehicle collisions. Bull Nippon Vet Life Sci Univ 61:51–59
Plantinga EA, Bosch G, Hendriks WH (2011) Estimation of the dietary nutrient profile of free-roaming feral cats: possible implications for nutrition of domestic cats. Br J Nutr 106(1):S35–S48. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114511002285
Planillo A, Mata C, Manica A, Malo JE (2018) Carnivore abundance near motorways related to prey and roadkills. J Wild Manag 82:319–327. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21384
R Development Core Team (2020) R: a language and environment for statistical computing, version 4.0.0. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.r-project.org. Accessed 2022.8.10
Rytwinski T, Soanes K, Jaeger JAG, Fahrig L, Findlay CS, Houlahan J, van der Ree R, van der Grift EA (2016) How effective is road mitigation at reducing roadkill? A meta-analysis. PLoS ONE 11:e0166941
Saeki M (2022) What is Tanuki? The University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, p 192
Saeki M, Macdonald DW (2004) The effects of traffic on the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus) and other mammals in Japan. Biol Cons 118:559–571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2003.10.004
Saeki M, Johnson PJ, Macdonald DW (2007) Movements and habitat selection of raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in a mosaic landscape. J Mamm 88:1098–1111. https://doi.org/10.1644/06-MAMM-A-208R1.1
Shinoda Y, Saeki M, Takeuchi M, Kinoshita T (2022) Factors influencing raccoon dog roadkills in the paddy-field dominated zone with landscape perspective. Mamm Sci 61:179–187
Skórka P, Lenda M, Moroń D, Martyka R, Tryjanowski P, Sutherland WJ (2015) Biodiversity collision blackspots in Poland: separation causality from stochasticity in roadkills of butterflies. Biol Cons 187:154–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.04.017
Tatewaki T, Koike F (2016) An overview of roadkill records on Japanese municipalities revealed by a questionnaire survey. Wildl Hum Soc 3:15–28
Tatewaki T, Koike F (2018) Synoptic scale mammal density index map based on roadkill records. Ecol Indic 85:468–478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.10.056
Yamagata Prefecture (2016) Car Traffic Record in 2016. https://www.pref.yamagata.jp/180029/kurashi/kendo/douro/dourokeikaku/h22census.html Accessed 2022.8.10
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank K. Jinkubo, K. Matsumoto, Y. Kadonome, Y. Kajitani, H. Yagisawa, H. Oizumi, K. Matsukawa, T. Kimura, and H. Suzuki for providing roadkill data.
Funding
This study was financially supported by the Research Center for Creative Partnerships at Ishinomaki Senshu University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analyses were performed by Yumeko Takahashi and Fuma Suzuki. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yamato Tsuji and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Communicated by Krzysztof Schmidt.
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Takahashi, Y., Suzuki, F. & Tsuji, Y. Spatio-temporal patterns of vertebrate roadkills in a suburban area in northern Japan. Mamm Res 68, 85–92 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-022-00661-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-022-00661-3