Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.13047/KJEE.2017.31.1.042

Patterns of Snake Roadkills on the Roads in the Northeast Region of South Korea  

Park, Daesik (Division of Science Education, Kangwon National University)
Jeong, Soo-Min (Dept. of Biology, Kangwon National University)
Kim, Seung-Kyu (Division of Science Education, Kangwon National University)
Ra, Nam-Yong (Dept. of Biology, Kangwon National University)
Lee, Jeong-Hyun (Dept. of Biology, Kangwon National University)
Kim, Ja-Kyeong (Dept. of Biology, Kangwon National University)
Kim, Il-Hun (Dept. of Biology, Kangwon National University)
Kim, Dae-In (Dept. of Biology, Kangwon National University)
Kim, Seok-Bum (Dept. of Biology, Kangwon National University)
Publication Information
Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology / v.31, no.1, 2017 , pp. 42-53 More about this Journal
Abstract
One of the negative ecological effects following road construction is roadkill; animals die on the roads after being struck by vehicles. Roadkills have been a major concern in South Korea due to the large mountain areas in the country and have been mentioned as a causal factor for the decline in wildlife. Although snake roadkills frequently occur, as with mammals, birds, and amphibians, there are not many related studies done on snake roadkills. In this study, we determined snake roadkill patterns in the northeast part of South Korea including most of the Gangwon-do areas and parts of Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, and Gyeongsangbuk-do by analyzing the snake roadkills found between May 2007 and Aug 2012. We identified a total of 155 roadkilled snakes from 10 different species. Red-sided water snake (Rhabdophis tigrinus), Red-tongue viper snake (Gloydius ussuriensis), Cat snake (Elaphe dione), Red-banded snake (Dinodon rufozonatus), and Viper snake (Gloydius brevicaudus) accounted for more than 90% of the total cases. It was found that more active forager snakes were killed than sit-and-wait foragers, more male snakes were killed than female snakes, and more adult snakes were killed than subadult snakes. The snake roadkill frequency was the highest in September between the altitudes of 200 and 400 m, and on roads between either a mountain and a body of water or between a mountain and a crop field. Our results are expected to enhance the understanding of snake roadkills in general and to determine the areas, specific sites and species for planning projects for snake roadkill reduction in the northeast of South Korea.
Keywords
ROAD; REPTILE; SNAKE; CONSERVATION;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 6  (Citation Analysis)
연도 인용수 순위
1 Baxter-Gilbert, J.H., J.L. Riley, D. Lesbarreres, J.D. Litzgus (2015) Mitigating reptile road mortality: fence failures compromise ecopassage effectiveness. PLOS one doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120537   DOI
2 Bonnet, X., G. Naulleau, R. Shine (1999) The dangers of leaving home: dispersal and mortality in snakes. Biol. Conserv. 89(1): 39-50   DOI
3 Chen, H.L., (2015) Barrier Effects of roads and traffic on animal occurrence, space use, and movements. Dissertation, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
4 Choi, T.Y., C.H. Park (2006) The effects of land use on the frequency of mammal roadkills in Korea. J. KILA 34(5): 52-58
5 Choi, J.Y., H.M. Park, S.D. Lee (2015) An analysis of wildlife roadkill based on land cover in South Korea expressway: in case of Jungbu Expressway. Proceedings of the International Conference on Waste Management, Ecology and Biological Sciences. pp. 49-53
6 Choi, T.Y., B. Yang, B. Yoo (2008) Overview of measures and research reports on mitigate road-kills. Korean J. Nat. Conserv. 2(2): 85-90
7 Ciesiolkiewicz, J., G. Orlowski, A. Elzanowski (2006) High juvenile mortality of grass snakes Natrix natrix (L.) on a suburban road. Polish J. Ecol. 54(3): 465-472
8 Demers, G.B., P.J. Weatherhead (2001) Habitat use by black ratsnakes (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta) in fragmented forests. Ecology 82: 2882-2896   DOI
9 Do, M.S., J.C. Yoo (2014) Distribution pattern according to altitude and habitat type of the Red-tongue viper snake (Gloydius ussuriensis) in the Cheon-ma mountain. J. Wetl. Res. 16(2): 193-204   DOI
10 Andrews, K.M., J.W. Gibbons (2005) How do highways influence snake movement? Behavioral response to roads and vehicles. Copeia 2005(4): 772-782   DOI
11 Kim, D.I., J.H. Lee, I.H. Kim, J.K. Kim, N.Y. Ra, B.N. Kim, D. Park (2011a) Herpetofauna and distribution of each species in Gwangneung Forest. Korean J. Herpetol. 3: 1-9
12 Fahrig, L., J.H. Pedlar, S.E. Pope, P.D. Taylor, J.F. Wegner (1995) Effect of road traffic on amphibian density. Biol. Conserv. 73(3): 177-182   DOI
13 Gu, H., Q. Dai, Q. Wang, Y. Wang (2011) Factors contributing to amphibian road mortality in a wetland. Curr. Zool. 57(6): 768-774   DOI
14 Gunson, K. (2010) Cyprus Lake Road Pre-mitigation Assessment. Fathom Five National Marine Park, Ontario, Canada.
15 Kambourova-Ivanova, N., Y. Koshev, G. Popgeorgiev, D. Ragyov, M. Pavlova, I. Mollov, N. Nedialkov (2012) Effect of traffic on mortality of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals on two types of roads between Pazardzhik and Plovdiv region (Bulgaria): preliminary results. Acta Zool. Bulgar. 64(1): 57-67
16 Kang, Y.S., I.B. Yoon (1975) Illustrated Encyclopedia of Fauna and Flora of Korea (vol.17): Amphibia, Reptilia. Korean Ministry of Education, Seoul, South Korea.
17 Kim, I.H., H.J. Lee, J.K. Kim, D.H. Choi, J.H. Han, D. Park (2013a) Morphological characteristics and daily movement pattern of the nocturnal red-banded snake (Dinodon rufozonatum). Korean J. Herpetol. 5: 15-25
18 Kim, S.B., I.H. Kim, H.J. Lee, J.K. Kim, D. Park (2013b) Review of amphibian and reptile road-kill studies in South Korea. Korean J. Herpetol. 5: 33-44
19 Kim, Y.S., W.B. Cho, J.K. Kim (2011b) Terrain classification for road design. Int. J. Highw. Eng. 13(4): 221-229   DOI
20 Lee, H.J., J.H. Lee, D. Park (2011) Habitat use and movement patterns of the viviparous aquatic snake, Oocatochus rufodorsatus, from Northeast Asia. Zool. Sci. 28(8): 593-599   DOI
21 Lee, K.Y., J.D. Jung (2006) A study on the construction of highways and ecological corridors. J. KSIA 9: 73-78
22 Lee, J.H. (2011) Taxonomic status, habitat use and suitability modeling of the Amur ratsnake (Elaphe schrenckii). Dissertation, Kangwon National University, KW, South Korea.
23 Lee, J.H., D. Park (2011) Spatial ecology of translocated and resident Amur ratsnakes (Elaphe schrenckii) in two mountain valleys of South Korea. Asian Herpetol. Res. 2(4): 223-229   DOI
24 Lee, J.H., D. Park, N.Y. Ra, J.K. Kim (2009) Hrepetofauna in Odaesan National Park. Korean J. Herpetol. 1: 45-52
25 Matos, C., N. Sillero, E. Argana (2012) Spatial analysis of amphibian road mortality levels in northern Portugal country roads. Amphibia-Reptilia 33(3-4): 469-483   DOI
26 Meek, R. (2009) Patterns of reptile road-kills in the Vendée region of western France. Herpetol. J. 19(3): 135-142
27 Oh, J. (2009) Study on Preparing Mitigation Ways for Wildlife Road-kills in National Parks. Korea National Park, Seoul, Korea
28 Preacher, K.J. (2001) Calculation for the chi-square test: An interactive calculation tool for chi-square tests of goodness of fit and independence (Computer software). Available from http://quantpsy.org.
29 Quintero-Angel, A., D. Osorio-Dominquez, F. Vargas-Salinas, C.A. Saavedra-Rodriguez (2012) Roadkill rate of snakes in ad disturbed landscape of Central Andes of Colombia. Herpetol. Notes 5: 99-105
30 Reading, C.J., L.M. Luiselli, G.C. Akani, X. Bonnet, G. Amori, J.M. Ballouard, E. Filippi, G. Naulleau, D. Pearson, L. Rugiero (2010) Are snake population in widespread decline? Biol. Lett. 6: 777-780   DOI
31 Song, J.Y., M.S. Kim, I.S. Kim, T.H. Kim, I. Roh, S.W. Seo, E.K. Seo, J.K. Seo, J.Y. Yang, K.D. Woo, H.J. Won, Y.G. Lee, Y.H. Lim, S.H. Han, M.G. Moon (2009) Roadkill of amphibians in the Korea National Park. Korean J. Environ. Ecol. 23(2): 187-193
32 Roe, J.H., J. Gibon, B.A. Kingsbury (2006) Beyond the wetland border: estimating the impact of roads on two species of water snakes. Biol. Conserv. 130(2): 161-168   DOI
33 Seo, C., J.H. Thorne, T. Choi, H. Kwon, C.H. Park (2015) Disentangling roadkill: the influence of landscape and season on cumulative vertebrate mortality in South Korea. Landscape Ecol. Eng. 11(1): 87-99   DOI
34 Seok, S., J. Lee (2015) A study on the correlation between road-kill hotspot and habitat patches. J. Environ. Impact Assess. 24(3): 233-243   DOI
35 Son, S.W., S.H. Kil, Y.J. Yoon, J.H. Yoon, H.J. Jeon, Y.H. Son, M.S. Kim (2016) Analysis of influential factors of roadkill occurrence-A case study of Seorak National Park. J. KILA 44(1): 1-12
36 Song, J.Y. (2007) Current status and distribution of reptiles in the Republic of Korea. Korean J. Environ. Biol. 25(2): 124-138
37 Souza, A.M., R.C. Pires, V.S. Borges, P.C. Eterovick (2015) Road mortality of the herpetofauna in a Cerrado ecosystem, central Brazil. Herpetol. J. 25(3): 141-148
38 Spellerberg, I.F. (1998) Ecological effects of roads and traffic: a literature review. Global Ecol. Biogeog. 7: 317-333
39 Trombulak, S.C., C.A. Frissell (2000) Review of ecological effects of roads on terrestrial and aquatic communities. Conserv. Biol. 14(1): 18-30   DOI
40 Sullivan, B.K. (1981) Observed differences in body temperature and associated behavior of four snake species. J. Herpetol. 15(2): 245-246   DOI
41 Vijayakumar, S.P., K. Vasudevan, N.M. Ishwar (2001) Herpetofauna mortality on roads in the Anamalai Hills, southern Western Ghats. Hamadryad 26(2): 265-272
42 Hartmann, P.A., M.T. Hartmann, M. Martins (2011) Snake road mortality in a protected area in the Atlantic forest of southeastern Brazil. South Amer. J. Herpetol. 6(1): 35-42   DOI
43 Wang, S., H.C. Lin, M.C. Tu (2003) Skewed sex ratio of the Chinese green tree viper, Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri, at Tsaochiao, Taiwan. Zool. Stud. 42(2): 379-385
44 Weatherhead, P.J., F.E. Barry, G.P. Brown, M.R.L. Forbes (1995) Sex ratios, mating behavior and sexual size dimorphism of the northern water snake, Nerodia sipedon. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 36(5): 301-311   DOI
45 Yang, B., T. Choi, B. Yoo, J. Yi, T. Kim, J. Lee, S. Lee, Y. Cho (2007) Management of wildlife species under the influence by habitat fragmentation (II): in the case of road-kill mitigation measures. National Institute of Environment Research, Incheon, Korea