Life in the fast lane: roadkill risk along an urban–rural gradient

Abstract Wildlife-vehicle collisions are a major cause of mortality in animal populations and can significant population-level effects. Urban areas typically associated with higher road densities unique wildlife communities comparison to rural areas, therefore have the potential be high numbers collisions, roadkill risk. Here, we use citizen science database species distribution models assess how risk (probability observation per km2) varied along an urban–rural gradient for British wildlife. Roadkill was positively density, until around 5000 m/km2, value representing villages or outskirts towns cities. Beyond remained some (hedgehog, fox, pigeons gulls) but reduced other (badger, rabbit, pheasant). function live badger, hedgehog overlap between spatial patterns species’ distribution. This not case pheasant, gulls. Fox underrepresented possibly due low while pheasant overrepresented. For gulls—well-known urban exploiters—roadkill overrepresented given their distributions, risks foraging, particularly scavenging by Our results highlight dangers UK’s dense networks wildlife, even considered adapted environments human disturbance.