Effects of reflective warning markers on wildlife

• Published in: PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) Vol. 7; p. e7614
• Main Authors: Fang, Yi-Hao, Gao, Ying, Yang, Yin, Tan, Kun, Li, Yan-Peng, Ren, Guo-Peng, Huang, Zhi-Pang, Cui, Liang-Wei, Xiao, Wen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego PeerJ. Ltd 03.09.2019; PeerJ, Inc; PeerJ Inc
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Avoidance behavior; Biodiversity; Birds; Camera trap; Coniferous forests; Conservation Biology; Daytime; Environmental Contamination and Remediation; Environmental Impacts; Flight; Forests; Light pollution; Light sources; Lighting systems; Nighttime; Pollution; Population Biology; Protected areas; Reflective materials; Roads & highways; Secondary light pollution; Software; Studies; Wildlife; China
• ISSN: 2167-8359; 2167-8359
• DOI: 10.7717/peerj.7614

Light pollution has become one of the top issues in environmental pollution, especially concerning how secondary light pollution, such as from traffic reflective materials, influences animal distribution and behavior. In this study, 15 camera traps were set up at sites with or without reflective warning markers (RWM) in coniferous forests on Cangshan Mountain located in Dali Prefecture, China. The results showed that the number of independent photographs and species at sites without RWMs were significantly higher than those at sites with RWMs. Significant differences were found between daytime and nighttime composition of bird species and non-flying mammals between two sites. This study found that RWMs had negative effects on wildlife, with the avoidance response of birds to RWMs being more obvious than that of animals at daytime. It is recommended that the use of reflective materials be carefully considered, especially in protected areas.