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Brendan Behan
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 Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 1:49 am Post subject: Would There Be Fewer Roadkills in the Future? |
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I am not a biologist and have a question: Would there be fewer
roadkills at some point in the future? What I mean is that animals
have some tendencies that gets them confused and killed by uncoming
vehicles. Presumably, the genes that have these tendencies would be
killed off and mutations cause a future generation of for example
squirrels to get killed less frequently on the road. If so, how long
would it take for any change to happen?
Thanks,
Brendan |
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TWINBLUE
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| Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2003 6:42 pm Post subject: Re: Would There Be Fewer Roadkills in the Future? |
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[quote]I am not a biologist and have a question: Would there be fewer
roadkills at some point in the future? What I mean is that animals
have some tendencies that gets them confused and killed by uncoming
vehicles. Presumably, the genes that have these tendencies would be
killed off and mutations cause a future generation of for example
squirrels to get killed less frequently on the road. If so, how long
would it take for any change to happen?
[/quote]
Actually you are correct. This will happen.
However the time frame is a difficult question. Some species may be quicker
than others to accommodate human presence. And they may progress (?) different
features at different rates. For example whitetail deer are so tame as to be
just damn pests in many areas of the country but they show no sign of staying
out from in front of cars. If the human species lasts long enough as a large
population nearly every animal larger than rodents will either adapt to human
presence or become extinct. This may take a really long time on a human scale.
TWINBLUE |
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Name And Address Supplied
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| Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2003 3:21 am Post subject: Re: Would There Be Fewer Roadkills in the Future? |
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twinblue@aol.com (TWINBLUE) wrote in message news:<bpoals$2crc$1@darwin.ediacara.org>...
[quote]I am not a biologist and have a question: Would there be fewer
roadkills at some point in the future? What I mean is that animals
have some tendencies that gets them confused and killed by uncoming
vehicles. Presumably, the genes that have these tendencies would be
killed off and mutations cause a future generation of for example
squirrels to get killed less frequently on the road. If so, how long
would it take for any change to happen?
Actually you are correct. This will happen.
However the time frame is a difficult question. Some species may be quicker
than others to accommodate human presence. And they may progress (?) different
features at different rates. For example whitetail deer are so tame as to be
just damn pests in many areas of the country but they show no sign of staying
out from in front of cars. If the human species lasts long enough as a large
population nearly every animal larger than rodents will either adapt to human
presence or become extinct. This may take a really long time on a human scale.
[/quote]
I would imagine that the absolute number of roadkill will be more
strongly determined by the frequency of road-crossings by animals and
the frequency (and speed) of vehicles on the roads, than by the
genetical composition of the animal populations. I>m not sure if
traffic is likely to get heavier in the future - maybe people will
become more environmentally conscious and tend to take buses or
whatever, which would reduce the number of vehicles on the road. The
same would be true if people increasingly worked from home and had no
need to commute to and from work. But increasing urban sprawl and the
destruction of natural habitats could reduce animal abundance, and so
regardless of an increase in traffic we could see a decrease in
roadkill simply because the animal populations have been decimated by
other means.
Having said that, I am aware of a fairly rigorous study which claims
to show that hedgehog populations close to some motorways in the UK
have responded to their new selection regime by becoming faster
runners, so I won>t dispute that genetical evolution will be a factor,
albeit a small one. |
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Brett Aubrey
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| Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2003 3:21 am Post subject: Re: Would There Be Fewer Roadkills in the Future? |
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"TWINBLUE" <twinblue@aol.com> wrote in message
news:bpoals$2crc$1@darwin.ediacara.org...
[quote]I am not a biologist and have a question: Would there be fewer
roadkills at some point in the future? What I mean is that animals
have some tendencies that gets them confused and killed by uncoming
vehicles. Presumably, the genes that have these tendencies would be
killed off and mutations cause a future generation of for example
squirrels to get killed less frequently on the road. If so, how long
would it take for any change to happen?
Actually you are correct. This will happen.
However the time frame is a difficult question. Some species may be
quicker
than others to accommodate human presence. And they may progress (?)
different features at different rates. For example whitetail deer are so
tame
as to be just damn pests in many areas of the country but they show no
sign of staying out from in front of cars. If the human species lasts long
enough as a large population nearly every animal larger than rodents
will either adapt to human presence or become extinct. This may
take a really long time on a human scale. TWINBLUE
[/quote]
Just a comment... TwinBlue>s initial points ("Actually you are correct.
This will happen.") seems an oversimplification or perhaps even wrong, in
view of his latter obserservation ("adapt to human presence or become
extinct"), which I would personally think is more on the mark
I would guess that as vehicles and associated traffic increase around the
world, roadkill will increase significantly, and only (or mainly) through:
- related human initiative (fences, animal overpassees/underpasses), and
- reduced animal populations, rather than evolutionary forces,
will this decrease or otherwise significantly change. My guess is that
vehicular change is so profound that the animal population and associated
genetics will be "unable" to cope through the normal forces of evolution.
But, like the initial poster (Brendan), I am not a biologist and concede
that TwinBlue>s answer is at least possible. FWIW. Regards, Brett. |
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Ziham
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| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 3:56 am Post subject: Re: Would There Be Fewer Roadkills in the Future? |
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brendanbhan@hotmail.com (Brendan Behan) wrote in message news:<bph6k0$4u5$1@darwin.ediacara.org>...
[quote]... animals have some tendencies that gets them confused and killed by
uncoming vehicles. Presumably, the genes that have these tendencies would be
killed off and mutations cause a future generation of for example
squirrels to get killed less frequently ...
[/quote]
It seems sensible to suspect that there is evolutionary pressure
against this behaviour, but some animals may adopt a new life style
that means that their preferred habitat is the road. For instance
crows that specialise on feeding on roadkill may eventually form a new
species.
As long as the gains out way the losses, then road fauna will
flourish, but more road animals could lead to more roadkills.
Indeed, in many areas the roadside has the highest wildlife density
and diversity in the locale.
- Ziham |
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