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. 2025 Oct;39(5):e70089.
doi: 10.1111/cobi.70089. Epub 2025 Jun 19.

Community-informed and codesigned research to understand the impacts of railways on wildlife

Kyle D Vincent  1 , Jacqueline D Litzgus  1 , Steven J Kell  2 , Cory L Kozmik  3 , Angela Belleau  4 , Jesse N Popp  5
Affiliations

Community-informed and codesigned research to understand the impacts of railways on wildlife

Kyle D Vincent et al. Conserv Biol. 2025 Oct.

Abstract
in English, Spanish, Chinese

Trains cause mortalities of several animal species, but the ecological impacts of railways are understudied. Most research on wildlife-train collisions has focused on large mammals, but understanding railway-specific risks for underrepresented taxa, especially vulnerable species, is important for developing effective mitigation strategies. Based on the concerns and interests of 2 Anishinaabek communities-Shawanaga First Nation (SFN) and Magnetawan First Nation (MFN)-we collaboratively aimed to fill knowledge gaps with a community-informed approach in which Indigenous knowledge (IK) and Western science were used to investigate wildlife interactions with railways bisecting the 2 Traditional Territories in Ontario, Canada. To inform study design, First Nation community members were invited to share knowledge concerning wildlife-railway impacts in semistructured interviews. Weekly walking surveys were conducted in 3 field seasons along two 3.6-km sections of railway in SFN and MFN during which locations of all wildlife observed alive or dead were recorded. We also deployed game cameras at 500-m intervals along the railway survey areas. On walking surveys, we recorded 462 observations of individuals from 42 species, of which 76% were found dead. These findings complemented the shared IK that railways affect a wide variety of wildlife, often causing mortalities. Reptiles and amphibians were the most severely affected taxa, accounting for 87% of observed mortalities. Seven species at risk of extinction interacted with the railway, including 3 turtle species and one snake species, all of which were found dead on the railway tracks. Cameras recorded 43 wildlife species; most detections were of large and medium mammals, suggesting they frequently interact with the railway but may face lower mortality risks than herpetofauna in our study area. Ultimately, our study highlights the holistic outcomes that are possible through collaborative research that embraces complementary knowledge systems and indicates that reptile and amphibian populations may be particularly susceptible to railway mortality.

Investigaciones codiseñadas e informadas por la comunidad para entender el impacto de las vías férreas sobre la fauna Resumen Los ferrocarriles causan la muerte de varias especies animales, pero sus repercusiones ecológicas están poco estudiadas. La mayor parte de la investigación sobre colisiones entre fauna y ferrocarriles se ha centrado en los grandes mamíferos, pero conocer los riesgos específicos de los ferrocarriles para los taxones infrarrepresentados, especialmente las especies vulnerables, es importante para desarrollar estrategias de mitigación eficaces. Con base en las preocupaciones y los intereses de dos comunidades anishinaabek ‐la Primera Nación Shawanaga (PNS) y la Primera Nación Magnetawan (PNM)‐, nos propusimos colaborar para cerrar las brechas de conocimiento con un enfoque comunitario en el que se utilizaron los conocimientos indígenas y la ciencia occidental para investigar las interacciones de la fauna salvaje con las vías férreas que atraviesan los dos Territorios Tradicionales, en Ontario (Canadá). Para diseñar el estudio, invitamos a los miembros de la comunidad de las Primeras Naciones a compartir sus conocimientos sobre el impacto de las vías férreas en la fauna silvestre mediante entrevistas semiestructuradas. En tres temporadas de campo, realizamos estudios semanales a pie a lo largo de dos tramos de 3.6 km de vía férrea en PNS y PNM, durante los cuales regitramos las ubicaciones de todos los animales silvestres observados vivos o muertos. También desplegamos cámaras trampa a intervalos de 500m a lo largo de las zonas de estudio del ferrocarril. Registramos 462 observaciones de individuos de 42 especies, de los cuales el 76% se encontraron muertos. Estos hallazgos complementaron el conocimiento indígena compartido de que las vías férreas afectan a una amplia variedad de fauna, lo que causa mortalidades con frecuencia. Los reptiles y anfibios fueron los taxones afectados con mayor gravedad, con un 87% de las muertes observadas. Siete especies en peligro de extinción interactuaban con el ferrocarril, entre ellas tres especies de tortugas y una de serpientes, que aparecieron muertas en las vías. Las cámaras registraron 43 especies de fauna silvestre; la mayoría de las detecciones fueron de mamíferos grandes y medianos, lo que sugiere que interactúan frecuentemente con el ferrocarril pero que pueden enfrentarse a riesgos de mortalidad menores que la herpetofauna en nuestra zona de estudio. Nuestro estudio resalta definitivamente los resultados holísticos que son posibles mediante una investigación colaborativa que abarque sistemas de conocimiento complementarios e indica que las poblaciones de reptiles y anfibios pueden ser especialmente susceptibles a la mortalidad ferroviaria.

【摘要】 火车可能造成多种动物的死亡, 但铁路的生态影响尚未得到充分研究。大多数关于火车撞击野生动物的研究都集中在大型哺乳动物上, 但了解铁路对代表性不足的物种, 尤其是易受威胁物种的风险, 对于制定有效的减缓策略至关重要。基于两个Anishinaabek社区——Shawanaga第一民族(Shawanaga First Nation, SFN)和Magnetawan第一民族(Magnetawan First Nation, MFN)的关心与兴趣, 本研究通过社区参与方法, 利用土著知识与西方科学调查了横贯加拿大安大略省两个传统领地的铁路与野生动物的相互作用, 以合作填补知识空缺。为指导研究设计, 我们邀请了第一民族社区成员在半结构化访谈中分享关于铁路对野生动物影响的知识。我们在SFN和MFN的两段各3.6公里长的铁路沿线, 进行了为期三个野外研究季的每周步行调查, 期间记录了所有观察到的活体或死亡野生动物的位置。我们还在铁路调查区域以500米间隔部署了红外相机, 共记录到42个物种的462个个体, 其中76%为死亡个体。这些发现补充了土著人民分享的知识, 即铁路对多种野生动物产生影响, 常导致死亡。爬行动物和两栖动物是受影响最严重的类群, 占观察到死亡事件的87%。七种濒危物种与铁路存在相互作用, 包括三种龟类和一种蛇类, 它们均被发现死在铁路轨道上。相机记录了43种野生动物;大多数监测到的对象为大型和中型哺乳动物, 表明它们频繁出现在铁路附近, 但可能面临的死亡风险低于本研究区域的两栖和爬行动物。最后, 本研究强调了整合互补知识体系开展的合作研究可实现的综合性成果, 并指出了爬行动物和两栖动物种群可能最容易受到铁路的致死影响。【翻译:胡怡思;审校:聂永刚】.

Keywords: Indigenous knowledge; amphibians; anfibios; conocimiento indígena; ecología de vías férreas; herpetofauna; mortalidad ferroviaria; railway ecology; railway mortality; reptiles; 两栖动物; 两爬动物群; 土著知识; 爬行动物; 铁路生态学; 铁路致死率.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
General location of study sites and the section of Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway (CPKC) that runs through Shawanaga First Nation (SFN) and Magnetawan First Nation (MFN) along the eastern coast of Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
(a) Example of the single‐track railway sections surveyed at each site in Shawanaga First Nation (SFN) and Magnetawan First Nation (MFN), including the center rails and right‐of‐way, (b) male Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii), (c) female midland painted turtle (miskwaadesi; Chrysemys picta marginata) (died from heat stress after becoming trapped on the railway), and (d) red fox (waagosh; Vulpes vulpes) and (e) moose (mooz; Alces alces) captured on trail cameras.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Percent mentions of wildlife from various taxa seen alive and dead on the railway by participants of the Indigenous knowledge study conducted with Shawanaga and Magnetawan First Nations in 2019.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Counts of observed living and dead wildlife pooled between survey sites and across 3 years (2019–2021) for 8 taxa documented during weekly walking surveys along railways in Shawanaga (SFN) and Magnetawan First Nations (MFN).
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Mean monthly numbers (SE) of (a) amphibian, (b) turtle, (c) squamate, (d) bird, (e) large mammal, (f) medium mammal, and (g) small mammal mortalities per railway survey from April to October at Shawanaga and Magnetawan First Nations conducted in 2019, 2020, and 2021 and (h) total number of surveys completed each month across all 3 years combined.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Relationship between railbed temperature and the probability of observing a dead turtle during railway surveys at Shawanaga and Magnetawan First Nations in 2020 and 2021 (shading, 95% confidence intervals).
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