Koala road kills are linked to landscape attributes on Central Queensland's Peak Downs Highway OACL.pdf (1.49 MB)
Koala road kills are linked to landscape attributes on Central Queensland's Peak Downs Highway
Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) road kills occur frequently along the Peak Downs highway through the Clarke-Connors ranges. Highway upgrades allowed mitigation of koala-vehicle collision frequency while maintaining koala population connectivity. This project aimed to understand road kill distribution to inform protective infrastructure investment. Koala road kills were associated with: (1) streams and associated alluvia where the dominant vegetation included Eucalyptus tereticornis and E. platyphylla; (2) ridges supporting E. drepanophylla open forest/woodland abutting streams or alluvia; and (3) mid-lower slopes, dominated by E. drepanophylla that were dissected by minor streams fringed by E. tereticornis ± E. platyphylla. Road kills did not occur in E. drepanophylla open forest/woodland on ridge upper slopes, crests or on hills, although koalas occur in this landscape. Explaining why koala road kills are linked to landscape features requires investigation. It is likely that: (1) landscape elements associated with drainage lines, alluvia and E. tereticornis support a relatively high koala abundance, and hence the road kill risk is correspondingly higher; and (2) the engineered road architecture and road verge characteristics in these landscape elements are conducive to koalas crossing the road.
Funding
Category 2 - Other Public Sector Grants Category
History
Volume
44Issue
3Start Page
319End Page
327Number of Pages
9eISSN
1836-7402ISSN
0310-0049Publisher
CSIRO PublishingPublisher DOI
Full Text URL
Additional Rights
CC BY-NC-NDLanguage
enPeer Reviewed
- Yes
Open Access
- Yes
Acceptance Date
2021-11-06Era Eligible
- Yes
Journal
Australian MammalogyUsage metrics
Categories
Keywords
highway protective infrastructure,hotspots,koala-vehicle collision,landscape analysis.mitigation measures,Peak Downs Highway,Phascolarctos cinereus,road kill cluster,hotspotsPhascolarctos cinereusroad kill clusterhighway protective infrastructurekoala-vehicle collisionmitigation measuresPeak Downs Highwaylandscape analysis0502 Environmental Science and Management0602 Ecology0608 Zoology