Patterns of vertebrate road-kills in a pre-Saharan Tunisian area

摘要: Understanding spatio-temporal patterns of animal-vehicle collisions is a crucial step for the implementation of efficient mitigation measures of this worldwide threat against biodiversity. In this study we investigated vertebrate road-kills in a pre-Saharan area in southern Tunisia. In particular, we assessed how road mortality varied according to land cover and season. From February 2019 to January 2020, a road section crossing three land cover types (desert, oasis and urban areas) was monitored twice a week for the survey of road-killed vertebrates. There was about one animal killed per 10 km and per day. Birds were the vertebrate class most affected by road-kills. Mammals constituted a non-negligible part of recorded road-kills and were mainly represented by stray cats and dogs. The highest rate of vertebrate road-kill was recorded in oases, which was expected given the higher abundance of animals in these …