Genetic detection and road-kill hotspot analysis of roadkilled vertebrate species on selected roads in Lower Austria

Road networks usually have a negative impact on wildlife populations, especially through road-kill as a result of collisions with vehicles, and can thus lead to population declines of individual species. Official statistics on road-kill in Austria are only available for huntable game (e.g. wild boar), in which Lower Austria has been in negative first place for years. Data on non-huntable vertebrate species, some of which are protected, are largely lacking. A challenge, especially for smaller vertebrates such as most amphibians or passerine birds, is the short detection period on roads. In addition, many species cannot be adequately identified due to repeated roadkill. Incorrect species identification can have far-reaching consequences and falsify scientific analyses or complicate conservation measures. Genetic analyses, such as barcoding, can be a helpful tool for species identification in this case, but depending on the nature conservation law of the respective province as well as the protection status of the animal, permits for invasive sampling (blood, fur, tissue, etc.) are required. So far, there are hardly any studies in Austria based on barcoding of road-kills. The aim of GeRoKi is to evaluate where road-kill of vertebrates occurs more frequently (road-kill hotspots) by means of regular road-kill monitoring on selected road sections in Lower Austria for the first time. Furthermore, it will be tested whether a non-invasive collection of blood and tissue samples from the road surface below or directly next to the killed vertebrates is an effective means of extracting DNA for species identification. This study has a model character, as the results and findings can be transferred to numerous other problems and survey approaches of different animal species (e.g. detection of neozoa).