Determining whether tourist abundance and reproductive status predispose golden-mantled ground squirrels (<i>Callospermophilus lateralis</i>) to vehicular accidents
Abstract
Roads are a significant cause of biodiversity loss around the world, impacting wildlife by disrupting natural environment, changing abundance patterns of wildlife, and destroying habitat (Garrah et al. 2015). One of the most direct effects that roads have on animals is mortality from vehicular collision. Roads may be threatening to hibernating small mammals who rely on foraging because they may function as an ecological trap or an ecological sink (Ruiz-Capillas et al. 2015). This study examines roadkills in a known population of golden-mantled ground squirrels, Callospermophilus lateralis, (GMGS) at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in Gothic, CO in order to determine how timing and adult female reproductive phase predispose GMGS to vehicular collision. I hypothesize that (1) roadkill events involving GMGS peak in early to mid-July due to tourist abundance during the Wildflower Festival and late August due to pre-hibernation foraging and (2) reproducing adult female GMGS are more likely to be involved in a vehicular collision during their lactation stage due to peak energy demands. This study utilizes 25 years of GMGS life history and roadkill data (1995-2019) and two years of tourist data (2018 and 2019) from RMBL to compare roadkills and tourist abundance and to examine female reproductive stage when hit. There is a positive relationship between GMGS roadkill events and tourist counts. More reproductive GMGS were hit in their post-reproductive stage, and the majority of reproductive females were hit within a week of their litter emergence. It is clear that roads are a threat to the golden-mantled ground squirrel population at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory site. 2
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