How animal movement influences wildlife-vehicle collision risk: a mathematical framework for range-resident species

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: de Figueiredo, Benjamin Garcia, Silva, Inês, Noonan, Michael J., Fleming, Christen H., Fagan, William F., Calabrese, Justin M., Martinez-Garcia, Ricardo
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866910051107602432
author de Figueiredo, Benjamin Garcia
Silva, Inês
Noonan, Michael J.
Fleming, Christen H.
Fagan, William F.
Calabrese, Justin M.
Martinez-Garcia, Ricardo
author_facet de Figueiredo, Benjamin Garcia
Silva, Inês
Noonan, Michael J.
Fleming, Christen H.
Fagan, William F.
Calabrese, Justin M.
Martinez-Garcia, Ricardo
contents Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) threaten both biodiversity and human safety worldwide. Despite empirical efforts to characterize the major determinants of WVC risk and optimize mitigation strategies, we still lack a theoretical framework linking traffic, landscape, and individual movement features to collision risk. Here, we introduce such a framework by leveraging recent advances in movement ecology and reaction-diffusion stochastic processes with partially absorbing boundaries. Focusing on range-resident terrestrial mammals -- responsible for most fatal WVCs -- we model interactions with a single linear road and derive exact expressions for key survival statistics, including mean collision time and road-induced lifespan reduction. These quantities are expressed in terms of measurable parameters, such as traffic intensity or road width, and movement parameters that can be robustly estimated from relocation data, such as home-range crossing times, home-range sizes, or distance between home-range center and road. Therefore, our work provides an effective theoretical framework integrating movement and road ecology, laying the foundation for data-driven, evidence-based strategies to mitigate WVCs and promote safer, more sustainable transportation networks.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_17058
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle How animal movement influences wildlife-vehicle collision risk: a mathematical framework for range-resident species
de Figueiredo, Benjamin Garcia
Silva, Inês
Noonan, Michael J.
Fleming, Christen H.
Fagan, William F.
Calabrese, Justin M.
Martinez-Garcia, Ricardo
Populations and Evolution
Statistical Mechanics
Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) threaten both biodiversity and human safety worldwide. Despite empirical efforts to characterize the major determinants of WVC risk and optimize mitigation strategies, we still lack a theoretical framework linking traffic, landscape, and individual movement features to collision risk. Here, we introduce such a framework by leveraging recent advances in movement ecology and reaction-diffusion stochastic processes with partially absorbing boundaries. Focusing on range-resident terrestrial mammals -- responsible for most fatal WVCs -- we model interactions with a single linear road and derive exact expressions for key survival statistics, including mean collision time and road-induced lifespan reduction. These quantities are expressed in terms of measurable parameters, such as traffic intensity or road width, and movement parameters that can be robustly estimated from relocation data, such as home-range crossing times, home-range sizes, or distance between home-range center and road. Therefore, our work provides an effective theoretical framework integrating movement and road ecology, laying the foundation for data-driven, evidence-based strategies to mitigate WVCs and promote safer, more sustainable transportation networks.
title How animal movement influences wildlife-vehicle collision risk: a mathematical framework for range-resident species
topic Populations and Evolution
Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.17058