Historic Wildlife Roadkill Reports from Vermont, USA (1971-2006)

Occurrence
Latest version published by Vermont Center for Ecostudies on Oct 24, 2024 Vermont Center for Ecostudies
Publication date:
24 October 2024
License:
CC0 1.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 2,895 records in English (176 KB) - Update frequency: not planned
Metadata as an EML file download in English (16 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (12 KB)

Description

This data set describes the locations of vehicle-animal collisions. It is a collection of collision information shared by the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife (F&W) and the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans).

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 2,895 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Austin J, Viani K, Hammond F, Massa M (2024). Historic Wildlife Roadkill Reports from Vermont, USA (1971-2006). Version 1.0. Vermont Center for Ecostudies. Occurrence dataset. https://ipt.vtatlasoflife.org/resource?r=historic_vt_roadkill&v=1.0

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Vermont Center for Ecostudies. To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 5514463e-95e2-41f9-b76b-ec8b8df85948.  Vermont Center for Ecostudies publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF-US.

Keywords

Occurrence; Observation

Contacts

John Austin
  • Originator
Wildlife Biologist
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
Vermont
US
Kevin Viani
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator
Environmental Specialist
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
Vermont
US
Forrest Hammond
  • Originator
Wildlife Biologist
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
Vermont
US
Megan Massa
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Point Of Contact
Data Manager
Vermont Center for Ecostudies
PO Box 420
Norwich
Vermont
US
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6895-3743
Steve Sharp
  • Metadata Provider
GIS Database Administrator
Vermont Center for Geographic Information
Vermont
US
Kent McFarland
  • Point Of Contact
Conservation Biologist
Vermont Center for Ecostudies
PO Box 420
Norwich
Vermont
US
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7809-5503

Geographic Coverage

Coverage includes roadways in the State of Vermont, USA.

Bounding Coordinates South West [42.723, -73.454], North East [45.018, -71.465]

Temporal Coverage

Start Date / End Date 1971-06-18 / 2006-03-27

Project Data

Development of a centralized database of wildlife road mortality, wildlife road crossing, and related habitat data for individual species for which data exists throughout the state of Vermont. This involved updating an existing database developed for a complimentary project designed to compile all existing data on black bear road mortality, road crossing, and significant habitats. It also included incorporating all data on moose collisions and deer collisions. In addition, new databases were developed to record existing bobcat, amphibian and reptile information. In order to expand and improve wildlife road mortality data, a partnership and recording procedures were developed with VTrans field/district staff enabling them to record a new array of wildlife road mortality information. In addition to provided bibliography, see also: Austin, J., Viani, K., Hammond, F., & Slesar, C. (2005). A GIS-based identification of significant wildlife habitats associated with roads in Vermont. UC Davis: Road Ecology Center. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/91c3z0rg

Title Vermont Wildlife Linkage Habitat Analysis
Funding This project was developed in accordance with a grant from the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans Research Advisory Council No.RSCH008-967).

Sampling Methods

The two agencies responsible for this information have different recording techniques and levels of accuracy. F&W information has been recorded through various methods. F&W initiated a statewide black bear GIS database in 2001, collected from written documents at district offices and interviews to collect data back to 1971. Moose data came from game wardens and biologists that was entered into the state police CAD system. The records have been populated through various methods such as distance from intersection, landmark, location maps, GPS coord, and others. Though most have much better accuracy, records included in this database have proven to have a locational accuracy threshold of less than 0.5 mile. Starting in 2004, VTrans road maintenance staff recorded data in an ongoing maintenance tracking system.

Study Extent 1971-2006, Vermont
Quality Control In a quality assurance review by F&W, a locational accuracy acceptance threshold was created. Vermont Center for Ecostudies reviewed the data in 2024, assigned or reassigned coordinates that had been left blank or incorrectly georeferenced, and performed additional quality control on the data. An R script containing the quality control process transforming the original data from the Vermont Center for Geospatial Data, where it is archived, is available on request.

Method step description:

  1. Removed entry-error duplicate records.
  2. Assigned animals from their provided entry categories and comments to taxonomic names, sexes, age classes, and vitality. Many could not be assigned in full detail. Animals assumed dead unless otherwise specified.
  3. Corrected georeference of points where lat/long data was missing or incorrect.
  4. Split out multiple animals at different locations from records whose comments confirmed their presence.
  5. Corrected town and county locality assigned to points using spatial layers of towns and counties from VT Center for Geographic Information.

Bibliographic Citations

  1. Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife (2006). EcologicFauna_ROADKILL06 [raster digital data], 2006A ed., Vermont vehicle-animal collisions (roadkill). Vermont Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Waterbury, VT.
  2. Austin, J., Viani, K., & Hammond, F. (2006). Vermont wildlife linkage habitat analysis: a GIS-based, Landscape-level identification of potentially significant wildlife habitats associated with the State of Vermont Roadways. Vermont Agency of Transportation. Retrieved from https://resources.vtrans.vermont.gov/documents/archivedresearch/2006%20-%20MAY%20Vermont%20Wildlife%20Linkage%20Habitat%20Analysis.pdf

Additional Metadata