Amphibian roadkill patterns in an Asian tropical rainforest

Abstract

Wildlife roadkills have emerged as one of the most adverse impacts of road networks on biodiversity. Knowledge regarding amphibian roadkill patterns in Asian tropical rainforests is limited. Herein, we present the first assessment of roadkill patterns of amphibians in the Hainan tropical rainforest of southern China, based on extensive field surveys covering 58 road transects in 2021 and 2022. We investigated the effects of species characteristics, seasons, and environmental factors on amphibian roadkill patterns. We recorded 503 amphibian carcasses and identified 13 amphibian species. Abundant species are more likely to be killed. There were no significant differences in the roadkill observations between the dry and wet seasons. The number of roadkill observations correlated positively with the percentage of area with buildings. Our findings provide new insights into the ecological effects of roads and transportation in Asian tropical rainforests, which will help design and implement conservation actions. We suggest prioritizing permanent mitigation measures to reduce roadkill risk for abundant species on roads with a relatively high percentage of area with buildings in the Hainan tropical rainforest.