Abstract
Herpetofauna are globally declining but often overlooked in conservation efforts. Since many herpetofauna are susceptible to localized road mortality, we develop the first North American herpetofauna roadkill models to inform conservation planning. The iNaturalist Roadkills of Texas database is employed to develop and compare ensembles of feature-selected MaxEnt species distribution models (SDMs) and kernel density estimate models (KDEMs) of roadkill, including broad-taxa models (btSDMs and btKDEMs) of combined Texas herpetofauna, and single-species models for the state threatened Texas Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) and common generalist Gulf Coast Toad (Incilius nebulifer). We also novelly evaluate cross-taxa roadkill models (ctSDMs; ctKDEMs) using both broad-taxa (bctSDMs; bctKDEMs) and single-species (sctSDMs; sctKDEMs) models, assessing how well models for one taxa project sympatric roadkill of individual species, including two rare herpetofauna with insufficient data for modeling: the state threatened Texas Tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri) and federally endangered Houston Toad (Anaxyrus houstonensis). Texas herpetofauna MaxEnt roadkill btSDMs and Texas Horned Lizard roadkill SDMs both outperformed corresponding poor accuracy KDEMs. Gulf Coast Toad MaxEnt roadkill SDMs and KDEMs had poor accuracy, but KDEMs had lower complexity. Texas herpetofauna roadkill bctSDMs had excellent and significantly highest accuracy in projecting cross-taxa roadkill for the Texas Horned Lizard and Texas Tortoise. Texas herpetofauna roadkill bctSDMs also best projected Houston Toad roadkill. Important MaxEnt SDM variables included distance to residential roads, human population density, percent cover developed open space, and live herpetofauna KDE. Texas herpetofauna bctSDMs can guide further roadkill surveys needed to improve models and develop mitigation plans for herpetofauna conservation.
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The online iNaturalist (2022b) community science database includes raw herpetofauna roadkill data: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/roadkills-of-texas#:~:text=The%20purpose%20of%20this%20project,wildlife%20and%20make%20roadways%20safer.
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Acknowledgements
We are especially grateful to Chris McDaniels for diligent roadkill surveys in Bastrop and Robertson counties, Texas in 2021, including submitting collected data to iNaturalist. We thank Anna Pidgeon (Associate Editor, Biological Conservation), and the anonymous reviewers for reviewing earlier versions of this manuscript and providing helpful comments.
Funding
This research was funded by the Texas Department of Transportation Research and Technology Implementation Project No. 0-7078, with support from US Department of Transportation Highway Planning and Construction CFDA No. 20.205.
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Planning for the study involved K.C., J.L.T., L.A.F., and R.N.C. K.C. and J.L.T. developed the analysis framework and methodology. K.C. assembled the species roadkill occurrence data, and J.L.T performed the niche model analysis. K.C. led the writing with J.L.T., W.W., E.V.V., L.A.F., and R.N.C. assisting. All authors gave approval for the final revision and are accountable for all aspects of the work.
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Supplementary file3 (ZIP 198104 KB)—Zip files of the Texas herpetofauna MaxEnt roadkill model feature subset ensemble (N=12) polyline shapefile
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Chyn, K., Tracy, J.L., Wright, W. et al. Where the toad crosses the road: multi-method and cross-taxa Texas herpetofauna roadkill modeling for conservation planning. Biodivers Conserv 33, 1909–1939 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-024-02807-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-024-02807-y