DOT Project Number:  90-00-LRTF-006

Fiscal Year:  1990

Award:  $9,720.00

Principal Investigator:  Dr. Daryl Smith, Department of Biology, University of Northern Iowa, daryl.smith@uni.edu

Summary Report:

ROADKILL STUDY

To test the hypothesis that the type of vegetation adjacent to the right-of-way of roads influences roadkills, four types of vegetation were selected. Replicate locations containing adjacent woodlands, nonnative grasslands, prairie and cropland were selected on four types of roads. The four road types were (1) 2-lane secondary asphalt with narrow shoulders, (2) 2-lane secondary asphalt with narrow shoulders, (3) 4-lane primary concrete, and (4) gravel secondary. A total of thirty-two sections of roads were included in the study. The study was initiated as a thesis project by graduate student, Patricia Hunziker.

Data was collected August 1, 1990 through July 31, 1991. Sections of roads examined for roadkills varied between 0.1 - 0.4 mile in length. Roads were checked once per week during December, January and February and twice weekly the remainder of study. Data recorded for a roadkill on a section of a road included date, location of the victim on the road, identity of the victim, condition of the roadkill and type of vegetation on the opposite side of the road.