Successes
Here you can find our cooperations and publications.
GeRoKi: Genetic evidence and roadkill hotspot analysis of vertebrate species killed on selected roads in Lower Austria Duration: 2 May 2023 – 1 May 2024Funding body: Province of Lower Austria Our landscape is criss-crossed by roads, which often pose a danger to wild animals and result in the loss of their habitat. However, reliable data on the number of animals that regularly fall victim to road traffic is lacking in Austria, especially for species that are not hunted. Since 2014, the Roadkill Project has been collecting roadkill data with the help of dedicated citizen scientists. However, two major challenges have emerged in the process. Reports are usually made randomly rather than systematically. It is often difficult to identify animal species from photographs. This is precisely where the GeRoKi research project came in. The aim was to find out whether the data collected was sufficient to identify so-called roadkill hotspots – i.e. sections of road where a particularly large number of animals are killed – and whether the animal species could be clearly identified using DNA from blood residues on the asphalt. Between July and October 2023, five road sections in Lower Austria were cycled three times a week. The researchers found…
Watch out for hedgehogs! – Citizen science against roadkill in Lower Austria Duration: 01.01.2026 - 31.12.2026 Road networks account for 47% of the sealed surface area in Lower Austria and thus represent a central component of the cultural landscape. On the one hand, roads are an indispensable foundation for our social life; on the other hand, they have significant impacts on biodiversity. Lower Austria leads the official statistics on wildlife-vehicle collisions in Austria. Nevertheless, comprehensive data are still lacking on animals that are road-killed but are not classified as game species. In the Citizen Science project “Roadkill” at BOKU University, more than 1,000 citizen scientists have been collecting data on road-killed vertebrates in Austria since 2013. Up to now, only presence data have been recorded. As part of the present project, this methodology is to be expanded by collecting presence–absence data through citizen scientists. The central question is: where are animals not being road-killed? The model organism used is the hedgehog genus (Erinaceus sp.). Public outreach campaigns will be conducted via the established social media channels of the project partners, as well as a drawing competition, evening lectures in rural communities, and, not least, events at the Museum of Lower…
Roadkill reports will be analysed once a year, focusing on detailed information on the surrounding landscapes of the five most frequently reported species and the type of road on which the animals were reported. The surrounding landscape and the type of road (e.g. motorway, interurban) on which roadkills were reported contribute to the understanding of the influence of the landscape and various road features on biodiversity. In addition, all citizen scientists in the project can vote once a year on which research topics from the past basic analyses they find most attractive. The research topic with the most votes will serve as the basis for a new technical article. To do this, the underlying questions and observations in the research topic are first refined into a research question by the research team together with the submitters. This research question will then be worked on and developed into a scientific article. We invite you to participate in the entire process according to your possibilities and time resources. Annual analyses published so far: Looking back at 2025 (in German): https://zenodo.org/records/18373887 Annual analysis from 09/2024 - 08/2025 (in German): https://zenodo.org/records/17182064 Annual analysis from 09/2023 - 08/2024 (in German): https://zenodo.org/records/13752128 Annual analysis from 09/2022 - 08/2023 (in…
The data on roadkills is the heart of the project and was collected through the voluntary work of the participating citizen scientists. Therefore, it is a concern for us in the project team to give back to society as much as possible from the project. Moreover, as part of the listing on the platform Österreich forscht, we have committed ourselves to fulfilling the quality criteria for citizen science projects that apply there, which include, among other things, that results and data from a citizen science project must be made freely available. As soon as a roadkill is reported, it is visible on our interactive map. You can filter by species on this map, create a so-called heatmap where you can see clustering points of reported animals and also create time series. This way you can get a first overview of which animals are reported where and when in the project. Each participant can download and use his/her own reports at any time. Every second day, the data entered into the Roadkill project is validated by members of the project team to correct incorrect or inconsistent entries via the backend of the website or, if the record cannot be corrected, the…
