How do Highways Influence Snake Movement? Behavioral Responses to Roads and Vehicles

摘要: Roads affect animal survivorship and behavior thereby can act as a barrier to movement, which exacerbates habitat fragmentation disrupts landscape permeability. Field experiments demonstrated that interspecific differences in ecology of snakes affected responses species when they encountered crossed roads. The probability crossing road varied significantly among southeastern U.S. snakes, with smaller exhibiting higher levels avoidance. Species also differed speeds, venomous more slowly than nonvenomous ones. All at perpendicular angle, minimizing time. A model incorporating speeds angles revealed some cannot successfully cross highways high traffic densities. Individuals three immobilized response passing vehicle, would further prolong time magnify susceptibility mortality. Identifying direct indirect effects roads on is essential for mitigating impacts designing effective transportation systems the future.