Daily roadkill monitoring of small mammals (Sciuridae)

Knowledge graph centered on Daily roadkill monitoring of small mammals (Sciuridae) with 33 nodes and 113 connections. Top connected: Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, Engelmann Spruce, Colorado East River Valley, Callospermophilus lateralis.

Method synopsis

Daily walking surveys along a road transect to detect, identify, tag and remove small mammal roadkill carcasses within hours of detection. Compared detection efficiency against simulated weekly surveys.

Synthesized from method descriptions across 1 paper using this protocol.

Procedure as described in the canonical source

Steps below were extracted from the paper that introduces this protocol — Daily roadkill monitoring and long-term population census reveal female-biased mortality for a small mammal along a wildland-urban interface (2023), Biological Conservation. Implementations in other papers (listed below) may differ.

1. Establish roadkill monitoring transect
   Designated a 1 km section of unpaved County Road 317 as the study transect, running north from Mount Crested Butte through the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory study area
   Quantities: 1 km road section, one-lane unpaved roadDuration: Permanent transect established for 31-year study period (1990-2020)Conditions: Road opens between April 12th and June 6th depending on snowmelt, closes between November and January
   Equipment: County Road 317
2. Conduct daily roadkill surveys
   Walk the study area multiple times per day to observe behavior and spatial locations of squirrels, scanning for roadkill carcasses on the road with visible injury from vehicle collision. Tag each carcass and remove within a few hours of detection to prevent double-counting
   Quantities: Multiple daily surveys of 1 km transect, covering all GMGS carcasses detectedDuration: Daily surveys during active season (late May through early September each year) for 31 yearsConditions: Active season when GMGS are aboveground and active, after snowmelt
   Equipment: ear tags, identification tags for carcasses

Typical Equipment

• County Road 317
• ear tags
• identification tags for carcasses

Output Measurements

• daily roadkill counts
• carcass detection rates
• sex-specific mortality rates

Papers Using This Protocol (1)

Species Studied With This Protocol

Places Where Used