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Motorway and road edges as
amphibian, reptile and small
mammal habitats in Hungary
Gál Blanka1,4, Farkas János2, Kádár Ferenc3, Weiperth András4,
Puky Miklós4†, Kiss Balázs3
1Doctoral
School of Environmental Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
3MTA Centre for Agricultural Research, Plant Protection Institute, Budapest, Hungary
4MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Danube Research Institute, Budapest, Hungary
2Department
Highway verges and rest areas
suitable habitats for a number of small species
offer good opportunity for monitoring
- changes in distribution area of species (e.g. invasive species)
- detection of newly introduced species
advantages:
• accessibility
• quasi standard conditions
• controlled human activity
Complex investigation of invasive arthropod pests and
their natural enemies along Hungarian motorways
Objectives:
Establishing species inventory for highway verges and rest
areas in Hungary
Monitoring newly introduced pests and invasive species
Standardized samplings:
- sweep netting
- vacuum device (D-vac)
- branch beating
- pitfall trapping
Species inventory
Number of species detected in highway verges
compared to Hungarian fauna
Bruchinae (seed beetles):
80 % 29 / 36
Coccoidea (scale insects):
50 % 137 / 275
Heteroptera (true bugs) :
40 % 332 / 840
Auchenorrhycha (leafhoppers, treehoppers): 37 % 201 / 545
Orthoptera (grasshoppers, cricket etc.):
36 % 45 / 125
Araneae (spiders) :
36 % 265 / 727
Terrestrial isopods (woodlice) :
32 % 18 / 56
Carabidae (carabid beetles):
28 % 153 / 540
Coccinellidae (ladybirds)
25 % 25 / 100
Curculionidae (weevils):
22 % 274 / 1245
New species for
Hungarian fauna:
Acari
Coccoidea
Curculionidae
Auchenorrhycha
Thysanoptera
Diptera
20
18
4
3
1
1
Drosophila suzukii
Pest insects
(First detection in
Hungary: 2012)
Relevant method for amphibians
and reptiles
pitfall traps (with ethylene glycol)
3x 3 weeks in April - May, July, September – October
2011-2013
6-6 traps per each site (33 in total)
Results 1.
Sampling sites: Countrywide transects + Budapest bypass
Amphibians and/or reptiles were found at 30 sampling sites.
Results 2.
Amphibians and/or reptiles were found at 30 sampling sites.
O
OO


O


O: No A or R
O: Only site with amphibians along M7
Site with over 50 amphibians
Site with over 20 reptiles
Distribution of amphibian and
reptilian along motorways
Reptilian
Amphibian
N=148
N=35
N=134
N= 225
N=72
Results 3.
Amphibia: both Urodela and Anura species were detected.
Reptilia: only lizards were caught (which is probably a sampling
bias).
In total, five amphibian and seven reptile species were found.
Two species are listed in Annex II. of the Habitat Directive (Triturus
dobrogicus, Bombina bombina).
Triturus dobrogicus
Bombina bombina
Results 4.
Surrounding habitats played a key role:
Lissotriton vulgaris, e.g. was only found at the Hajdúnánás site
with a permanent water body nearby
Anguis fragilis was only collected from the trap series at Letenye,
situated at the edge of a forest.
Pelobates fuscus was the most common species, 75 % of
amphibians belonged to that taxa while this ratio was 44% with
Podarcis muralis with lizards.
Results 5.
Two amphibian species were only detected in the wet months of
2011, one reptile only in the dry 2012.
By 2012 not only the number of amphibians but also the number of
reptiles had dropped.
No.
2013 was a very wet year: +2 additional amphibian species (Hyla
arborea, Bufo bufo) and the number of reptiles also increased
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
2011 2012 2013 2011 2012 2013
Reptilia
Amphibia
Ha
Bb
Tv
Td
Bobo
Bv
Pf
Af
Lv
Pm
La
Pt
Results 6.
Though motorways are considered as a source of diverse
chemical pollution (e.g. salt) only one deformed individual, a
Pelobates fuscus was caught at the Alacska resting area.
Ectromely on the right hind leg
Harmony – Procedures for the Design of Roads in Harmony with Wildlife
Harmony- project 2014-2015
Objectives:
The research focused on the impacts of maintenance regimes (grass
mowing periods and intensity) for different animal groups.
An order of preference can be made towards the maintenance regime
that favours the most important environmental goal (e.g. the protection of
a Habitat Directive Annex 2. species, a community structure, etc.).
Eleven taxonomic groups were separated:
two types of gastropod molluscs (snails and slugs),Coleoptera (beetles),
Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, etc.), Auchenorrhyncha (leaf hopper
etc.), Isopoda (slater), Araneae (spiders), Diplopoda (millipedes), Acarid,
Amphibian and Mammals.
Harmony – Procedures for the Design of Roads in Harmony with Wildlife
Research areas 2014-2015
Road No.10:Pilisjászfalu
Road No. 1: Herceghalom
(Pest-county)
Road No.1: Mány (Fejér-county)
Road No. 7: Agárd
Harmony – Procedures for the Design of Roads in Harmony with Wildlife
Sampling methods
pitfall traps (with ethylene glycol)
3x 3 weeks in April - May, July, September – October
All sampling areas were divided into three sections:
• the normal, periodic maintaining (mowing two times per
year on average)
• plus one maintaining was applied
• vegetation of verges are not maintained
Harmony – Procedures for the Design of Roads in Harmony with Wildlife
Results 1.
vertebrates were found at 3 sampling sites (Pilisjászfalu, Mány, Agárd)
we found the most individuals at Agárd site (96 amphibians.)
Pilisjászfalu site: bicolored shrew (Crocidura leucodon)
listed in Annex II. of the Habitat Directive
3%
Agárd
Pelobates fuscus
9%
Bombina bombina
88%
Lissotriton vulgaris
Harmony – Procedures for the Design of Roads in Harmony with Wildlife
Results 2.
In Agárd: the main values of abundance decreased from sites with enhanced
maintenance to sites without maintenance
In the case of seasonal pattern the main abundances in sections without or with normal
maintenance were highest in summer, followed by spring. In the sections with enhanced
maintenance we didn’t find any seasonal differences.
Harmony – Procedures for the Design of Roads in Harmony with Wildlife
Conclusions
5 reptile, 7 amphibian, 2 mammal species along Hungarian motorways
Road verges can provide habitat for several animal groupsthis fact
should be taken into consideration when deciding about the priorities of
road (side) maintenance.
Sections without maintenance  the road mortality can increase
significantly (bicolored shrew (Crocidura leucodon))
Timing is important all maintenance on road habitats should be
avoided while amphibian migration (e.g. the Kiskunság National Park in
Hungary)
Harmony – Procedures for the Design of Roads in Harmony with Wildlife
Conclusions
The intensity of the maintaining In hot periods the vegetation ensures
a shield for these taxonomic groups
Decreasing the intensity of the maintainingthese habitats can provide
shelter for several species near fields of agriculture.
The influence of maintenance showed different patterns depending on
the sampling areas, which can be explained by different biotic and
abiotic environments and the extent of human disturbances.
We need to take the environmental differences into account when
deciding about the methods of maintaining different road sections. (At
present the Hungarian National Road Authority Company uses the same
maintenance methods in all sampling areas.)
Harmony – Procedures for the Design of Roads in Harmony with Wildlife
In memoriam
Acknowledgement
Ferenc Kádár (Carabidae), Diána Vona-Túri
(Isopoda), Tünde Szmatona Túri
Financing: OTKA (Hungarian Research Found,
83829), CEDR-Harmony
Dr. Miklós Puky
(1961-2015)
Thank you for your attention!