Many carnivores have adapted their behavior to use roads and areas surrounding roads, as they offer least-cost movement corridors 16, 17, facilitate interspecific interactions 18, and provide abundant food resources 19. Vehicle strikes are a leading source of mortality for many apex predators, especially in regions with high road density, because of their large home-range requirements, extensive movements, and lack of natural predators 14, 15. As human populations and infrastructure continue to expand, the commensurate increase in road density and traffic volumes bring into question the long-term viability and recovery prospects for many wildlife species 12, 13. These effects further lead to decreases in animal species abundance and richness, especially for larger-bodied mammals 11. ![]() The negative effects of roadways and traffic on wildlife are far-reaching it is well known that roads can create barriers to movement 3, cause habitat fragmentation 4, 5, impede gene flow 6, and contribute to direct mortality 7, 8, 9, 10. Roads are among the most ubiquitous human features to pervade ecosystems worldwide 1, 2. Our results identify potential areas for mitigation of vehicle-strikes and emphasize the importance of accounting for road mortality when making management decisions for Ohio’s recovering bobcat population. To fully understand the population level impacts of this mortality, we recommend further monitoring of age structure and sex of roadkill animals. Finally, by integrating traffic volume data, road crossing behavior, and accounting for the proportion of each route type present in the study area, we estimated that a minimum of 6% and up to 18% of the bobcat population in Ohio is lost to vehicle-strikes annually. Bobcats exhibited avoidance of certain route types (county, municipal, and US routes). To explore road avoidance behaviors, we used GPS telemetry data from 18 individuals to compare road crossings along trajectory paths with random road crossings simulated using Correlated Random Walks. We found that bobcats were killed at higher rates on interstates regardless of surrounding landscape composition, but that landscape variables were useful at predicting mortality on lower-traffic roads. First, we utilized a long-term vehicle-strike dataset (1978–2017) to determine landscape and local predictors of road mortality. In this study, we integrated multiple datasets to examine overall road mortality rates in Ohio. As bobcat ( Lynx rufus) populations recover in Ohio, an accurate evaluation of population metrics is critical to understanding future population trajectories. We’ve also been coordinating with tribal nations, state agencies and private landowners to conserve lynx and hare habitats and populations.Roadways pose challenges for conserving wide-ranging animal species. ![]() This includes coordinating with land managers and the lynx research community to formally amend management plans and implement science-based conservation measures to conserve the species and its habitats. Fish and Wildlife Service have been working with federal land managers across the distinct population segment range since Canada lynx were first granted protection under the Endangered Species Act. In all regions within the distinct population segment range, timber harvest, recreation and their related activities are the predominant land uses with the potential to affect lynx habitats and populations. Fish and Wildlife Service to be inadequate to ensure the conservation of lynx populations and habitats. ![]() Federal land management plans at that time were deemed by the U.S. This was due solely to the inadequacy, at that time, of regulatory mechanisms on federal public lands, where most potential lynx habitat occurs. In the contiguous United States, Canada lynx were designated as a distinct population segment and listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2000. The Canada lynx ( Lynx canadensis) is a mid-sized boreal forest carnivore that occurs across most of northern North America.
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