Badger territoriality maintained despite disturbance of major road construction
Date
2021-09-03
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Publisher
PLOS ( Public Library of Science)
Abstract
Road ecology has traditionally focused on the impact of in-situ and functional roads on wildlife.
However, road construction also poses a major, yet understudied, threat and the implications
for key aspects of animal behaviour are unknown. Badgers (Meles meles) have
been implicated in the transmission of tuberculosis to cattle. There are concerns that environmental
disturbances, including major road construction, can disrupt badger territoriality,
promoting the spread of the disease to cattle. To address these knowledge gaps the ranging
behaviour of a medium-density Irish badger population was monitored using GPS-tracking
collars before, during, and after a major road realignment project that bisected the study
area. We estimated badgers’ home range sizes, nightly distances travelled, and the distance
and frequency of extra-territorial excursions during each phase of the study and quantified
any changes to these parameters. We show that road construction had a very limited
effect on ranging behaviour. A small increase in nightly distance during road construction
did not translate into an increase in home range size, nor an increase in the distance or frequency
of extra-territorial excursions during road construction. In addition, suitable mitigation
measures to prevent badger deaths appeared to ensure that normal patterns of ranging
behaviour continued once the new road was in place. We recommend that continuous badger-
proof fencing be placed along the entire length of new major roads, in combination with
appropriately sited underpasses. Our analysis supports the view that road construction did
not cause badgers to change their ranging behaviour in ways likely to increase the spread of
tuberculosis.
Description
Publication history: Accepted - 19 August 2021; Published - 3 September 2021.
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Citation
Gaughran, A., Mullen, E., MacWhite, T., Maher, P., Kelly, D. J., Kelly, R., Good, M. and Marples, N. M. (2021) ‘Badger territoriality maintained despite disturbance of major road construction’, PLOS ONE. Edited by B.-S. Yue, 16(9), p. e0242586. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242586.