Badger territoriality maintained despite disturbance of major road construction

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 transmissi...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:PloS one 2021-09, Vol.16 (9), p.e0242586
Hauptverfasser: Gaughran, Aoibheann, Mullen, Enda, MacWhite, Teresa, Maher, Peter, Kelly, David J, Kelly, Ruth, Good, Margaret, Marples, Nicola M
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
container_end_page
container_issue 9
container_start_page e0242586
container_title PloS one
container_volume 16
creator Gaughran, Aoibheann
Mullen, Enda
MacWhite, Teresa
Maher, Peter
Kelly, David J
Kelly, Ruth
Good, Margaret
Marples, Nicola M
description 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.
doi_str_mv 10.1371/journal.pone.0242586
format Article
fullrecord <record><control><sourceid>gale_plos_</sourceid><recordid>TN_cdi_plos_journals_2569042088</recordid><sourceformat>XML</sourceformat><sourcesystem>PC</sourcesystem><galeid>A674199281</galeid><doaj_id>oai_doaj_org_article_4e38ca093885469b9d33ba0cd0aa5ea8</doaj_id><sourcerecordid>A674199281</sourcerecordid><originalsourceid>FETCH-LOGICAL-c692t-5df390ae64251cf5edc20b4c565e85516946cd4330dbf86ca71f0cf7e4651dda3</originalsourceid><addsrcrecordid>eNqNkl2L1DAUhoso7rr6D0QLgujFjGnz0fRGWBc_BhYG_LoNp8npbIZOM5uk4v57U6e7TGUvJISE5DnvOTl5s-x5QZYFrYp3Wzf4Hrrl3vW4JCUruRQPstOipuVClIQ-PNqfZE9C2BLCqRTicXZCGaskY_Q0W38As0GfR_TeRuctdDbe5DuwfUwTTW4w7G3E3NgQB99ArzF3bSK2zufegcm160P0g47W9U-zRy10AZ9N61n249PH7xdfFpfrz6uL88uFFnUZF9y0tCaAIpVd6Jaj0SVpmOaCo-S8EDUT2jBKiWlaKTRURUt0WyETvDAG6Fn28qC771xQUy-CKrmoCSuJlIlYHQjjYKv23u7A3ygHVv09cH6jwEerO1QMqdRAaiolZ6JuakNpA0QbAsARRq33U7ah2aVasY8eupno_Ka3V2rjfinJCi4ISwJvJgHvrgcMUe1s0Nh10KMbDnXTqq5YkdBX_6D3v26iNpAeYPvWpbx6FFXnIsnUdSlHreU9VBoGdzZ9G7Y2nc8C3s4CEhPxd9zAEIJaffv6_-z655x9fcReIXTxKrhuGC0T5iA7gNq7EDy2d00uiBp9f9sNNfpeTb5PYS-OP-gu6Nbo9A9x7_5i</addsrcrecordid><sourcetype>Open Website</sourcetype><iscdi>true</iscdi><recordtype>article</recordtype><pqid>2569042088</pqid></control><display><type>article</type><title>Badger territoriality maintained despite disturbance of major road construction</title><source>MEDLINE</source><source>DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals</source><source>Public Library of Science (PLoS) Journals Open Access</source><source>EZB-FREE-00999 freely available EZB journals</source><source>PubMed Central</source><source>Free Full-Text Journals in Chemistry</source><creator>Gaughran, Aoibheann ; Mullen, Enda ; MacWhite, Teresa ; Maher, Peter ; Kelly, David J ; Kelly, Ruth ; Good, Margaret ; Marples, Nicola M</creator><contributor>Yue, Bi-Song</contributor><creatorcontrib>Gaughran, Aoibheann ; Mullen, Enda ; MacWhite, Teresa ; Maher, Peter ; Kelly, David J ; Kelly, Ruth ; Good, Margaret ; Marples, Nicola M ; Yue, Bi-Song</creatorcontrib><description>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><identifier>ISSN: 1932-6203</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 1932-6203</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242586</identifier><identifier>PMID: 34478443</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>United States: Public Library of Science</publisher><subject>Animal behavior ; Animals ; Badgers ; Behavior ; Biology and Life Sciences ; Cattle ; Collars ; Disease transmission ; Diseases ; Ecology ; Engineering and Technology ; Environmental aspects ; Food ; Global positioning systems ; GPS ; Health aspects ; Highway construction ; Home range ; Ireland - epidemiology ; Medicine and Health Sciences ; Meles meles ; Mitigation ; Mustelidae - physiology ; Population density ; Ranging behavior ; Realignment ; Risk factors ; Road construction ; Roads ; Roads &amp; highways ; Social Sciences ; Territorial behavior ; Territoriality ; Territoriality (Zoology) ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Bovine - epidemiology ; Tuberculosis, Bovine - prevention &amp; control ; Tuberculosis, Bovine - transmission ; Underpasses ; Wildlife ; Zoology</subject><ispartof>PloS one, 2021-09, Vol.16 (9), p.e0242586</ispartof><rights>COPYRIGHT 2021 Public Library of Science</rights><rights>2021 Gaughran et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.</rights><rights>2021 Gaughran et al 2021 Gaughran et al</rights><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><oa>free_for_read</oa><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed><citedby>FETCH-LOGICAL-c692t-5df390ae64251cf5edc20b4c565e85516946cd4330dbf86ca71f0cf7e4651dda3</citedby><cites>FETCH-LOGICAL-c692t-5df390ae64251cf5edc20b4c565e85516946cd4330dbf86ca71f0cf7e4651dda3</cites><orcidid>0000-0002-1884-6077 ; 0000-0002-4720-2940</orcidid></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><linktopdf>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8415604/pdf/$$EPDF$$P50$$Gpubmedcentral$$Hfree_for_read</linktopdf><linktohtml>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8415604/$$EHTML$$P50$$Gpubmedcentral$$Hfree_for_read</linktohtml><link.rule.ids>230,314,727,780,784,864,885,2102,2928,23866,27924,27925,53791,53793,79600,79601</link.rule.ids><backlink>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34478443$$D View this record in MEDLINE/PubMed$$Hfree_for_read</backlink></links><search><contributor>Yue, Bi-Song</contributor><creatorcontrib>Gaughran, Aoibheann</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Mullen, Enda</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>MacWhite, Teresa</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Maher, Peter</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Kelly, David J</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Kelly, Ruth</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Good, Margaret</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Marples, Nicola M</creatorcontrib><title>Badger territoriality maintained despite disturbance of major road construction</title><title>PloS one</title><addtitle>PLoS One</addtitle><description>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><subject>Animal behavior</subject><subject>Animals</subject><subject>Badgers</subject><subject>Behavior</subject><subject>Biology and Life Sciences</subject><subject>Cattle</subject><subject>Collars</subject><subject>Disease transmission</subject><subject>Diseases</subject><subject>Ecology</subject><subject>Engineering and Technology</subject><subject>Environmental aspects</subject><subject>Food</subject><subject>Global positioning systems</subject><subject>GPS</subject><subject>Health aspects</subject><subject>Highway construction</subject><subject>Home range</subject><subject>Ireland - epidemiology</subject><subject>Medicine and Health Sciences</subject><subject>Meles meles</subject><subject>Mitigation</subject><subject>Mustelidae - physiology</subject><subject>Population density</subject><subject>Ranging behavior</subject><subject>Realignment</subject><subject>Risk factors</subject><subject>Road construction</subject><subject>Roads</subject><subject>Roads &amp; highways</subject><subject>Social Sciences</subject><subject>Territorial behavior</subject><subject>Territoriality</subject><subject>Territoriality (Zoology)</subject><subject>Tuberculosis</subject><subject>Tuberculosis, Bovine - epidemiology</subject><subject>Tuberculosis, Bovine - prevention &amp; control</subject><subject>Tuberculosis, Bovine - transmission</subject><subject>Underpasses</subject><subject>Wildlife</subject><subject>Zoology</subject><issn>1932-6203</issn><issn>1932-6203</issn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>article</rsrctype><creationdate>2021</creationdate><recordtype>article</recordtype><sourceid>EIF</sourceid><sourceid>ABUWG</sourceid><sourceid>AFKRA</sourceid><sourceid>AZQEC</sourceid><sourceid>BENPR</sourceid><sourceid>CCPQU</sourceid><sourceid>DWQXO</sourceid><sourceid>GNUQQ</sourceid><sourceid>DOA</sourceid><recordid>eNqNkl2L1DAUhoso7rr6D0QLgujFjGnz0fRGWBc_BhYG_LoNp8npbIZOM5uk4v57U6e7TGUvJISE5DnvOTl5s-x5QZYFrYp3Wzf4Hrrl3vW4JCUruRQPstOipuVClIQ-PNqfZE9C2BLCqRTicXZCGaskY_Q0W38As0GfR_TeRuctdDbe5DuwfUwTTW4w7G3E3NgQB99ArzF3bSK2zufegcm160P0g47W9U-zRy10AZ9N61n249PH7xdfFpfrz6uL88uFFnUZF9y0tCaAIpVd6Jaj0SVpmOaCo-S8EDUT2jBKiWlaKTRURUt0WyETvDAG6Fn28qC771xQUy-CKrmoCSuJlIlYHQjjYKv23u7A3ygHVv09cH6jwEerO1QMqdRAaiolZ6JuakNpA0QbAsARRq33U7ah2aVasY8eupno_Ka3V2rjfinJCi4ISwJvJgHvrgcMUe1s0Nh10KMbDnXTqq5YkdBX_6D3v26iNpAeYPvWpbx6FFXnIsnUdSlHreU9VBoGdzZ9G7Y2nc8C3s4CEhPxd9zAEIJaffv6_-z655x9fcReIXTxKrhuGC0T5iA7gNq7EDy2d00uiBp9f9sNNfpeTb5PYS-OP-gu6Nbo9A9x7_5i</recordid><startdate>20210903</startdate><enddate>20210903</enddate><creator>Gaughran, Aoibheann</creator><creator>Mullen, Enda</creator><creator>MacWhite, Teresa</creator><creator>Maher, Peter</creator><creator>Kelly, David J</creator><creator>Kelly, Ruth</creator><creator>Good, Margaret</creator><creator>Marples, Nicola M</creator><general>Public Library of Science</general><general>Public Library of Science (PLoS)</general><scope>CGR</scope><scope>CUY</scope><scope>CVF</scope><scope>ECM</scope><scope>EIF</scope><scope>NPM</scope><scope>AAYXX</scope><scope>CITATION</scope><scope>IOV</scope><scope>ISR</scope><scope>3V.</scope><scope>7QG</scope><scope>7QL</scope><scope>7QO</scope><scope>7RV</scope><scope>7SN</scope><scope>7SS</scope><scope>7T5</scope><scope>7TG</scope><scope>7TM</scope><scope>7U9</scope><scope>7X2</scope><scope>7X7</scope><scope>7XB</scope><scope>88E</scope><scope>8AO</scope><scope>8C1</scope><scope>8FD</scope><scope>8FE</scope><scope>8FG</scope><scope>8FH</scope><scope>8FI</scope><scope>8FJ</scope><scope>8FK</scope><scope>ABJCF</scope><scope>ABUWG</scope><scope>AFKRA</scope><scope>ARAPS</scope><scope>ATCPS</scope><scope>AZQEC</scope><scope>BBNVY</scope><scope>BENPR</scope><scope>BGLVJ</scope><scope>BHPHI</scope><scope>C1K</scope><scope>CCPQU</scope><scope>D1I</scope><scope>DWQXO</scope><scope>FR3</scope><scope>FYUFA</scope><scope>GHDGH</scope><scope>GNUQQ</scope><scope>H94</scope><scope>HCIFZ</scope><scope>K9.</scope><scope>KB.</scope><scope>KB0</scope><scope>KL.</scope><scope>L6V</scope><scope>LK8</scope><scope>M0K</scope><scope>M0S</scope><scope>M1P</scope><scope>M7N</scope><scope>M7P</scope><scope>M7S</scope><scope>NAPCQ</scope><scope>P5Z</scope><scope>P62</scope><scope>P64</scope><scope>PATMY</scope><scope>PDBOC</scope><scope>PIMPY</scope><scope>PQEST</scope><scope>PQQKQ</scope><scope>PQUKI</scope><scope>PRINS</scope><scope>PTHSS</scope><scope>PYCSY</scope><scope>RC3</scope><scope>7X8</scope><scope>5PM</scope><scope>DOA</scope><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1884-6077</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4720-2940</orcidid></search><sort><creationdate>20210903</creationdate><title>Badger territoriality maintained despite disturbance of major road construction</title><author>Gaughran, Aoibheann ; Mullen, Enda ; MacWhite, Teresa ; Maher, Peter ; Kelly, David J ; Kelly, Ruth ; Good, Margaret ; Marples, Nicola M</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c692t-5df390ae64251cf5edc20b4c565e85516946cd4330dbf86ca71f0cf7e4651dda3</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>articles</rsrctype><prefilter>articles</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>2021</creationdate><topic>Animal behavior</topic><topic>Animals</topic><topic>Badgers</topic><topic>Behavior</topic><topic>Biology and Life Sciences</topic><topic>Cattle</topic><topic>Collars</topic><topic>Disease transmission</topic><topic>Diseases</topic><topic>Ecology</topic><topic>Engineering and Technology</topic><topic>Environmental aspects</topic><topic>Food</topic><topic>Global positioning systems</topic><topic>GPS</topic><topic>Health aspects</topic><topic>Highway construction</topic><topic>Home range</topic><topic>Ireland - epidemiology</topic><topic>Medicine and Health Sciences</topic><topic>Meles meles</topic><topic>Mitigation</topic><topic>Mustelidae - physiology</topic><topic>Population density</topic><topic>Ranging behavior</topic><topic>Realignment</topic><topic>Risk factors</topic><topic>Road construction</topic><topic>Roads</topic><topic>Roads &amp; highways</topic><topic>Social Sciences</topic><topic>Territorial behavior</topic><topic>Territoriality</topic><topic>Territoriality (Zoology)</topic><topic>Tuberculosis</topic><topic>Tuberculosis, Bovine - epidemiology</topic><topic>Tuberculosis, Bovine - prevention &amp; control</topic><topic>Tuberculosis, Bovine - transmission</topic><topic>Underpasses</topic><topic>Wildlife</topic><topic>Zoology</topic><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Gaughran, Aoibheann</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Mullen, Enda</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>MacWhite, Teresa</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Maher, Peter</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Kelly, David J</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Kelly, Ruth</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Good, Margaret</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Marples, Nicola M</creatorcontrib><collection>Medline</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>MEDLINE (Ovid)</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>PubMed</collection><collection>CrossRef</collection><collection>Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints</collection><collection>Gale In Context: Science</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Corporate)</collection><collection>Animal Behavior Abstracts</collection><collection>Bacteriology Abstracts (Microbiology B)</collection><collection>Biotechnology Research Abstracts</collection><collection>Nursing &amp; Allied Health Database</collection><collection>Ecology Abstracts</collection><collection>Entomology Abstracts (Full archive)</collection><collection>Immunology Abstracts</collection><collection>Meteorological &amp; Geoastrophysical Abstracts</collection><collection>Nucleic Acids Abstracts</collection><collection>Virology and AIDS Abstracts</collection><collection>Agricultural Science Collection</collection><collection>Health &amp; Medical Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (purchase pre-March 2016)</collection><collection>Medical Database (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Pharma Collection</collection><collection>Public Health Database</collection><collection>Technology Research Database</collection><collection>ProQuest SciTech Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Technology Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Natural Science Collection</collection><collection>Hospital Premium Collection</collection><collection>Hospital Premium Collection (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Alumni) (purchase pre-March 2016)</collection><collection>Materials Science &amp; Engineering Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central UK/Ireland</collection><collection>Advanced Technologies &amp; Aerospace Collection</collection><collection>Agricultural &amp; Environmental Science Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Essentials</collection><collection>Biological Science Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central</collection><collection>Technology Collection</collection><collection>Natural Science Collection</collection><collection>Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management</collection><collection>ProQuest One Community College</collection><collection>ProQuest Materials Science Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Korea</collection><collection>Engineering Research Database</collection><collection>Health Research Premium Collection</collection><collection>Health Research Premium Collection (Alumni)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Student</collection><collection>AIDS and Cancer Research Abstracts</collection><collection>SciTech Premium Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Health &amp; Medical Complete (Alumni)</collection><collection>Materials Science Database</collection><collection>Nursing &amp; Allied Health Database (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>Meteorological &amp; Geoastrophysical Abstracts - Academic</collection><collection>ProQuest Engineering Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Biological Science Collection</collection><collection>Agricultural Science Database</collection><collection>Health &amp; Medical Collection (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>Medical Database</collection><collection>Algology Mycology and Protozoology Abstracts (Microbiology C)</collection><collection>Biological Science Database</collection><collection>Engineering Database</collection><collection>Nursing &amp; Allied Health Premium</collection><collection>Advanced Technologies &amp; Aerospace Database</collection><collection>ProQuest Advanced Technologies &amp; Aerospace Collection</collection><collection>Biotechnology and BioEngineering Abstracts</collection><collection>Environmental Science Database</collection><collection>Materials Science Collection</collection><collection>Publicly Available Content Database</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic Eastern Edition (DO NOT USE)</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic UKI Edition</collection><collection>ProQuest Central China</collection><collection>Engineering Collection</collection><collection>Environmental Science Collection</collection><collection>Genetics Abstracts</collection><collection>MEDLINE - Academic</collection><collection>PubMed Central (Full Participant titles)</collection><collection>DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals</collection><jtitle>PloS one</jtitle></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Gaughran, Aoibheann</au><au>Mullen, Enda</au><au>MacWhite, Teresa</au><au>Maher, Peter</au><au>Kelly, David J</au><au>Kelly, Ruth</au><au>Good, Margaret</au><au>Marples, Nicola M</au><au>Yue, Bi-Song</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>Badger territoriality maintained despite disturbance of major road construction</atitle><jtitle>PloS one</jtitle><addtitle>PLoS One</addtitle><date>2021-09-03</date><risdate>2021</risdate><volume>16</volume><issue>9</issue><spage>e0242586</spage><pages>e0242586-</pages><issn>1932-6203</issn><eissn>1932-6203</eissn><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.</abstract><cop>United States</cop><pub>Public Library of Science</pub><pmid>34478443</pmid><doi>10.1371/journal.pone.0242586</doi><tpages>e0242586</tpages><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1884-6077</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4720-2940</orcidid><oa>free_for_read</oa></addata></record>
fulltext fulltext
identifier ISSN: 1932-6203
ispartof PloS one, 2021-09, Vol.16 (9), p.e0242586
issn 1932-6203
1932-6203
language eng
recordid cdi_plos_journals_2569042088
source MEDLINE; DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals; Public Library of Science (PLoS) Journals Open Access; EZB-FREE-00999 freely available EZB journals; PubMed Central; Free Full-Text Journals in Chemistry
subjects Animal behavior
Animals
Badgers
Behavior
Biology and Life Sciences
Cattle
Collars
Disease transmission
Diseases
Ecology
Engineering and Technology
Environmental aspects
Food
Global positioning systems
GPS
Health aspects
Highway construction
Home range
Ireland - epidemiology
Medicine and Health Sciences
Meles meles
Mitigation
Mustelidae - physiology
Population density
Ranging behavior
Realignment
Risk factors
Road construction
Roads
Roads & highways
Social Sciences
Territorial behavior
Territoriality
Territoriality (Zoology)
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, Bovine - epidemiology
Tuberculosis, Bovine - prevention & control
Tuberculosis, Bovine - transmission
Underpasses
Wildlife
Zoology
title Badger territoriality maintained despite disturbance of major road construction
url https://sfx.bib-bvb.de/sfx_tum?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2024-12-24T14%3A32%3A14IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-gale_plos_&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Badger%20territoriality%20maintained%20despite%20disturbance%20of%20major%20road%20construction&rft.jtitle=PloS%20one&rft.au=Gaughran,%20Aoibheann&rft.date=2021-09-03&rft.volume=16&rft.issue=9&rft.spage=e0242586&rft.pages=e0242586-&rft.issn=1932-6203&rft.eissn=1932-6203&rft_id=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0242586&rft_dat=%3Cgale_plos_%3EA674199281%3C/gale_plos_%3E%3Curl%3E%3C/url%3E&disable_directlink=true&sfx.directlink=off&sfx.report_link=0&rft_id=info:oai/&rft_pqid=2569042088&rft_id=info:pmid/34478443&rft_galeid=A674199281&rft_doaj_id=oai_doaj_org_article_4e38ca093885469b9d33ba0cd0aa5ea8&rfr_iscdi=true