Roadkills of vertebrate species on two highways through the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve,southern Brazil |
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Authors: | Igor Pfeifer Coelho Andreas Kindel Artur Vicente Pfeifer Coelho |
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Institution: | 1.PPG-Ecologia, Departamento de Ecologia,UFRGS,Porto Alegre,Brazil;2.Departamento de Ecologia,Instituto de Biologia, UFRGS,Porto Alegre,Brazil;3.Laboratório de Microeletr?nica,Instituto de Física, UFRGS,Porto Alegre,Brazil |
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Abstract: | We assessed the magnitude, composition, and spatial and temporal patterns of road mortality of native vertebrates on two highways
in southern Brazil from 18 January 2003 to 26 January 2004. The highways cross remnants of the Atlantic Rainforest, a global
biodiversity hotspot, and differ in vehicle traffic and surrounding landscape. We compared the road-kill magnitude and composition
of birds, mammals, and reptiles between roads and seasons. We used a modified K statistic to depict the spatial patterns of roadkills of these groups and tested the association between vehicle traffic
and road mortality through linear regression. We recorded 869 kills of 92 species. The two roads differed regarding the abundance
and composition of roadkills. Reptile road mortality was higher in summer than winter, but all other groups did not show significant
difference in the magnitude of mortality between seasons. The composition of killed assemblages differed significantly for
some of the taxonomic groups among seasons. We found only one positive association between roadkills and vehicle traffic (reptiles
on one of the roads), suggesting that vehicle flow does not explain the road-kill temporal variation on these roads. Total
vertebrate, bird, and mammal roadkills showed significant spatial aggregations possibly due to variation in vehicle traffic,
highway design, and local landscape condition and arrangement. With expected expansion of the road network, mitigation measures
for multi-species assemblages should include habitat protection, soil use regulation, road crossing structures, speed reducers,
and campaigns to raise people’s awareness about road impacts on wildlife. |
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Keywords: | Road ecology Spatial pattern Wildlife mortality |
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