Seasonal and Spatial Variation of Road-Killed Vertebrates on Br330, Southwest Bahia, Brazil

Bastos, Deivson Fraga de Oliveira; Souza, Ricardo A. T.; Zina, Juliana; Rosa, Clarissa Alves da

doi:10.4257/oeco.2019.2303.01

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 32 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…Our limited knowledge of the ecology of the species found in our study does not allow us to make precise predictions. However, other studies in the Neotropics have shown that roadkill can be either more (da Cunha, Moreira, & Silva, 2010) or less (Machado, Fontes, Mendes, Moura, & dos RomãO, 2015;Sosa & Schalk, 2016) frequent in the dry as compared to the wet season, a pattern that may be linked to changes in the rates of animal movements in response to food availability. The short period of this study might also have led us to miss so-called hot moments in the seasonal activity of particular species: These are moments of the year in which species are more vulnerable to be hit by vehicles (e.g., breeding season) (Beaudry, Demaynadier, & Hunter, 2010;Garrah, Danby, Eberhardt, Cunnington, & Mitchell, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Wildlife roadkill patterns in a fragmented landscape of the Western Amazon

Filius

Hoek

Jarrín‐V

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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One of the most evident and direct effects of roads on wildlife is the death of animals by vehicle collision. Understanding the spatial patterns behind roadkill helps to plan mitigation measures to reduce the impacts of roads on animal populations. However, although roadkill patterns have been extensively studied in temperate zones, the potential impacts of roads on wildlife in the Neotropics have received less attention and are particularly poorly understood in the Western Amazon. Here, we present the results of a study on roadkill in the Amazon region of Ecuador; a region that is affected by a rapidly increasing development of road infrastructure. Over the course of 50 days, in the wet season between September and November 2017, we searched for road‐killed vertebrates on 15.9 km of roads near the city of Tena, Napo province, for a total of 1,590 surveyed kilometers. We recorded 593 dead specimens, predominantly reptiles (237 specimens, 40%) and amphibians (190, 32%), with birds (102, 17%) and mammals (64, 11%) being less common. Recorded species were assigned to three functional groups, based on their movement behavior and habitat use (“slow,” “intermediate,” and “fast”). Using Ripley's K statistical analyses and 2D HotSpot Identification Analysis, we found multiple distinct spatial clusters or hotspots, where roadkill was particularly frequent. Factors that potentially determined these clusters, and the prevalence of roadkill along road segments in general, differed between functional groups, but often included land cover variables such as native forest and waterbodies, and road characteristics such as speed limit (i.e., positive effect on roadkill frequency). Our study, which provides a first summary of species that are commonly found as roadkill in this part of the Amazon region, contributes to a better understanding of the negative impacts of roads on wildlife and is an important first step toward conservation efforts to mitigate these impacts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Wildlife roadkill patterns in a fragmented landscape of the Western Amazon

Filius

Hoek

Jarrín‐V

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Landscape and road features linked to wildlife mortality in the Amazon

Medrano-Vizcaíno,

Grilo,

Brito-Zapata

et al. 2023

Biodivers Conserv

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Roads impact wildlife around the world; however, dedicated studies are lacking in many biodiverse areas such as the Amazon. Identifying which species are more often hit by vehicles and which landscape and road-related features promote roadkill is essential to guide future development and ensure adequate mitigation actions. For six months, we monitored 240 km of roads in the Ecuadorian Amazon and recorded 1125 dead vertebrates (149 species). Reptiles were the most observed Class with 380 individuals (56 species), followed by amphibians with 278 individuals (11 species), birds with 259 individuals (62 species), and mammals with 208 individuals (20 species). We used Random Forest models to explore the role of various land cover types and road sinuosity on the observed mortality. Additionally, we created heatmaps to visualize the road segments where roadkills were more frequent. For all vertebrates, mortality was more likely in straight road sections near rivers. The effects of other variables were taxa-specific. Amphibian mortality was more likely near bare soil or forest, birds and mammals died more often near herbaceous-shrubby vegetation, and reptile mortality occurred more often in areas with high cover of agriculture. Road segments with high mortality (i.e., roadkill hotspots) varied across taxa. These hotspots identify areas where further research into mitigation is needed to assess road impacts and prevent collisions. Among records, we found rare and threatened species, for which road mortality could be a significant threat. Roadkill surveys not only aid in quantifying threats and informing future planning but can also provide insight into local biodiversity.

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Seasonal and spatial patterns of mammalian road kill in northeastern Cordoba Province, Argentina

González-Calderón

2020

Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment

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Seasonal and Spatial Variation of Road-Killed Vertebrates on Br330, Southwest Bahia, Brazil

Cited by 6 publications

References 32 publications

Wildlife roadkill patterns in a fragmented landscape of the Western Amazon

Wildlife roadkill patterns in a fragmented landscape of the Western Amazon

Landscape and road features linked to wildlife mortality in the Amazon

Seasonal and spatial patterns of mammalian road kill in northeastern Cordoba Province, Argentina

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