Modify the roadside environment to reduce collisions by reducing attractiveness of road verges to mammals

Overall effectiveness category Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

60%
Certainty

25%
Harms

0%

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Background information and definitions

Collisions with vehicles can be a major cause of mortality for wild mammals and, especially where larger mammal species are involved, a cause of injury, death and economic loss for motorists (Conover et al. 1995). A range of interventions can be employed to in an attempt to reduce the animal-vehicle collision rate. One option may be to modify the roadside environment to make it less attractive to mammals. This could involve removing vegetation that provides mammals with feeding or shelter resources, planting vegetation that is unattractive to mammals or removing other roadside features that are known to attract mammals and create accident hotspots.

Conover M.R., Pitt W.C., Kessler K.K., DuBow T.J. & Sanborn W.A. (1995) Review of human injuries, illnesses, and economic losses caused by wildlife in the United States. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 23, 407–414.

Study locations

Key messages

One study evaluated the effects of modifying the roadside environment to reduce collisions by reducing attractiveness of road verges to mammals. This study was in Canada.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

POPULATION RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

BEHAVIOUR (1 STUDY)

(1 study): A replicated, before-and-after, site comparison study in Canada found that draining roadside salt pools and filling them with rocks reduced the number and duration of moose visits.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A replicated, before-and-after, site comparison study in 2003–2005 in mixed coniferous and deciduous forest in Québec, Canada (Leblond et al. 2007) found that draining roadside salt pools and filling them with rocks reduced the number and duration of visits by moose Alces alces. There was a lower overall visit rate to salt pools at night after some where drained and filled with rocks (0.2 visits/100 hours) than before (1.5 visits/100 hours). This decline was due to a fall in visits to drained pools with visit rates to undrained pools not changing significantly (see paper for details). Daytime visits did not decrease (after: 0.2/100 hours; before: 0.2–0.5). The average length of time spent at pools decreased (after: 0.02 hours/100 hours; before: 0.11–0.18). Before management, 57% (113/198) of recorded visits were of moose that drank the salty water. After management, no moose drank at drained pools. Moose were monitored at 12 roadside salt pools from mid-May to mid-August in 2003–2005. In autumn 2004, seven salt pools (those near most moose-vehicle collisions) were drained and filled with rocks (10–30 cm diameter) to deter moose. The other five were left untreated. Moose were monitored using movement and heat detectors that triggered a video camera or photo camera with infrared lights.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Leblond M., Dussault C., Ouellet J.-., Poulin M., Courtois R. & Fortin J. (2007) Management of roadside salt pools to reduce moose–vehicle collisions. Journal of Wildlife Management, 71, 2304-2310.

Please cite as:

Littlewood, N.A., Rocha, R., Smith, R.K., Martin, P.A., Lockhart, S.L., Schoonover, R.F., Wilman, E., Bladon, A.J., Sainsbury, K.A., Pimm S. and Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Terrestrial Mammal Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions for terrestrial mammals excluding bats and primates. Synopses of Conservation Evidence Series. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

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This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Terrestrial Mammal Conservation

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