Badger territoriality maintained despite disturbance of major road construction

Abstract

Road ecology has traditionally focused on the impact of in-situ and functional roads on wildlife. However, road construction also poses a major, yet understudied, threat and any implications for key aspects of animal behaviour are unknown. There are also concerns that environmental disturbances, including major roadworks, can disrupt badger territoriality, promoting the spread of tuberculosis to cattle. To address these knowledge gaps, the ranging behaviour of a medium-density Irish badger population was monitored, using GPS-tracking collars, before, during and after a major road realignment project that bisected the study area. We estimated badgers home range sizes, nightly distances travelled and the distance and frequency of extra-territorial excursions during each phase of the study and quantified any changes to these parameters. We show that roadworks had a very limited effect on ranging behaviour. A small increase in nightly distance during the roadworks did not translate into an increase in home range size, nor an increase in the distance or frequency of extra-territorial excursions during the roadworks. In addition, suitable mitigation measures to prevent badger deaths appeared to ensure that normal patterns of ranging behaviour continued once the new road was in place. Our analysis supports the view that road construction did not cause badgers to change their ranging behaviour in ways likely to increase the spread of tuberculosis.