Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Roadkills of vertebrate species on two highways through the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve, southern Brazil

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
European Journal of Wildlife Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Antworth RL, Pike DA, Stevens EE (2005) Hit and run: effects of scavenging on estimates of roadkilled vertebrates. Southeast Nat 4(4):647656

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya M, Primack R, Gerwein J (2003) Are roads and railroads barriers to bumblebee movement in a temperate suburban conservation area? Biol Conserv 109:37–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardino FS, Dalrymple GH (1992) Seasonal activity and road mortality of the snakes of the Pa-hay-okee wetlands of Everglades National Park, USA. Biol Conserv 62:71–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brasil (1992) Ministério da Agricultura e Reforma Agrária. Secretaria Nacional de Irrigação. Departamento Nacional de Meteorologia. Normais climatológicas (1961–1990). SPI/EMBRAPA, Brasília.

  • Brasil (2007) Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento—PAC 2007–2010. http://www.brasil.gov.br/pac/

  • Cheren JJ, Kammmers M, Ghizoni-Jr IR, Martins A (2006) Mamíferos de médio e grande porte atropelados em rodovias do Estado de Santa Catarina, sul do Brasil. Rev Biotemas 20:81–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke GP, White PCL, Harris S (1998) Effects of roads on badger Meles meles populations in south-west England. Biol Conserv 86:117–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clevenger AP, Wierzchowski J, Chruszcz B, Gunson K (2002) GIS-Generate, expert-based models for identifying wildlife habitat linkages and planning mitigation passages. Conserv Biol 16:503–514

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clevenger AP, Chruszcz B, Gunson KE (2003) Spatial patterns and factors influencing small vertebrate fauna road-kill aggregations. Biol Conserv 109:15–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clevenger AP, Waltho N (2005) Performance indices to identify attributes of highway crossing structures facilitating movement of large mammals. Biol Conserv 121:453–464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coelho AVP, Coelho IP, Kindel A (2006) SIRIEMA. Spatial Evaluation of Road Mortality Software. User’s Guide V.1.0. UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Google Scholar 

  • DAER-RS (2002) Departamento Autônomo de Estradas de Rodagem. Sistemas Eletrônicos de Operação Rodoviária, Ano 2002. Secretaria dos Transportes, Diretoria de Operações e Concessões. Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

  • Dean W (1995) With broadax and firebrand: the destruction of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. University of California Press, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • DNIT (2001) Departamento Nacional de Infra-Estrutura de Transportes. Relatório do Volume Médio Diário Anual. Décima Coordenação Estadual, BR-101. http://www.dnit.gov.br

  • Dobrovolski R (2006) A paisagem do Parque Estadual de Itapeva, RS, e seu entorno: padrões, processos e fatores direcionadores. M.Sc. dissertation, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

  • Drews C (1995) Road kills of animals by public traffic in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania, with notes on baboon mortality. Afr J Ecol 33:89–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmons LH (1997) Neotropical rainforest mammals: a field guide, 2nd edn. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Erritzoe J, Mazgajski TD, Rejt L (2003) Bird casualties on European roads—a review. Acta Ornithol 28(2):77–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Fahrig L, Pedlar JH, Pope SE, Taylor PD, Wegner JF (1995) Effect of road traffic on amphibian density. Biol Conserv 73:177–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fearnside PM (1987) Deforestation and international development projects in Brazilian Amazonia. Conserv Biol 1(3):214–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreras P, Aldama JJ, Beltran JF, Delibes M (1992) Rates and causes of mortality in a fragmented population of Iberian lynx Felis pardini Temminck, 1824. Biol Conserv 61:197–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finder RA, Roseberry JL, Woolf A (1999) Site and landscape conditions at white-tailed deer/vehicle collision locations in Illinois. Landsc Urban Plan 44:77–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer WA (1997) Efeitos da BR-262 na mortalidade de vertebrados silvestres: síntese naturalística para a conservação da região do Pantanal, MS. M.Sc. dissertation, UFMS, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil

  • Fontana CS, Bencke GA, Reis RE (2003) Livro vermelho da fauna ameaçada de extinção no Rio Grande do Sul. EDIPUCRS, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Google Scholar 

  • Forman RTT, Alexander LE (1998) Roads and their major ecological effects. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 29:207–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forman RTT (2000) Estimate of the area affected ecologically by the road system in the United States. Conserv Biol 14:31–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forman RTT, Sperling D, Bissonette JA, Clevenger AP, Cutshall CD, Dale VH et al (2003) Road ecology: science and solutions. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • GEIPOT (2000) Empresa Brasileira de Planejamento de Transportes. Anuário Estatístico dos Transportes. http://www.geipot.gov.br/IndexG.htm

  • Gibbs JP, Steen DA (2005) Trends in sex ratios of turtles in the United States: implications of road mortality. Conserv Biol 19(2):552–556

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huijser MP, Bergers PJM (2000) The effect of roads and traffic on hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) populations. Biol Conserv 95:111–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones JA, Swanson FJ, Wemple BC, Snyder KU (2000) Effects of roads on hydrology, geomorphology and disturbance patches in stream networks. Conserv Biol 14:76–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laurance WF, Cochrane MA, Bergen S, Fearnside PM, Delamônica P, Barber C et al (2001) The future of the Brazilian Amazon. Science 291(5503):438–439

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lesbarrères D, Lodè T, Merilã J (2004) What type of amphibian tunnel could reduce road kills? Oryx 38(2):220–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levine N (2000) CrimeStat: a spatial statistics program for the analysis of crime incident locations. Ned Levine & Associates, Annandale, Virginia

    Google Scholar 

  • Mckenna D, Mckenna K, Malcom S, Berenbaum M (2001) Mortality of Lepidoptera along roadways in central Illinois. J Lepid Soc 55(2):63–68

    Google Scholar 

  • MMA/SBF (2000) Avaliação e Ações Prioritárias para a Conservação da Biodiversidade da Mata Atlântica e Campos Sulinos. Por: Conservation International do Brasil, Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica, Fundação Biodiversitas, Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas, Secretaria do Meio Ambiente do Estado de São Paulo, Semad/Instituto Estadual de Florestas—MG. Brasília, 40 pp

  • MMA (2003) Lista Nacional das Espécies da Fauna Brasileira Ameaçadas de Extinção. Ministério do Meio Ambiente. http://www.mma.gov.br/port/sbf/fauna/index.cfm

  • Myers N, Mittermeier RA, Mittermeier CG, Da Fonseca GAB, Kent J (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403:853–858

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nepstad D, Carvalho G, Barros AC, Alencar A, Capobianco JP, Bishop J, Moutinho P, Lefebre P, Lopes Silva U, Prinz E (2001) Road paving, fire regime, feedbacks, and the future of Amazon forest. For Ecol Manage 154:395–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Novelli R, Takase E, Castro V (1988) Estudo das aves mortas por atropelamento em um trecho da rodovia BR-471, entre os distritos de Quinta e Taim, RS, Brasil. Rev Bras Zool 5(3):441–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliveira RB (2005) História natural da comunidade de serpentes de uma região de dunas do litoral norte do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Ph.D. thesis, PUC-RS, Porto Alegre, Brazil

  • Oxley DJ, Fenton MB, Carmody GR (1974) The effects of roads on populations of small mammals. J Appl Ecol 11:51–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira GFPA, Andrade GAF, Fernandes BEM (2006) Dois anos de monitoramento dos atropelamentos de mamíferos na rodovia PA-458, Bragança, Pará. Museu Biol Emilio Goeldi 1:77–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Pillar VDP (2004) MULTIV: Multivariate exploratory analysis, randomization testing and bootstrap resampling. User’s Guide v.2.3.10. UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Google Scholar 

  • Pillar VDP, Orlóci L (1996) On randomization testing in vegetation science: multifactor comparisons of relevé groups. J Veg Sci 7:585–592

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prada CS (2004) Atropelamento de vertebrados silvestres em uma região fragmentada do nordeste do Estado de São Paulo: quantificação do impacto e análises de fatores envolvidos. M.Sc. dissertation, UFSCAR, São Carlos, SP, Brasil

  • Ripley BD (1981) Spatial statistics. Wiley, New York, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Row JR, Blouin-Demers G, Weatherhead PJ (2007) Demographic effects of road mortality in black ratsnakes (Elaphe obsoleta). Biol Conserv 137:117–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saeki M, Macdonald DW (2004) The effects of traffic on the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus) and other mammals in Japan. Biol Conserv 118:559–571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seiler A (2005) Predicting locations of moose-vehicle collision in Sweden. J Appl Ecol 42:371–382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • StatSoft Inc (2004) Statistica (data analysis software system), version 7. http://www.statsoft.com

  • Taylor BD, Goldingay RL (2004) Wildlife road-kills on three major roads in north-eastern New South Wales. Wildl Res 31:83–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trombulak SC, Frissell CA (2000) Review of ecological effects of roads on terrestrial and aquatic communities. Conserv Biol 14:18–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Zande AN, ter Keurs WJ, van der Weijden WJ (1980) The impact of roads on the densities of four bird species in an open field habitat: evidence of a long-distance effect. Biol Conserv 18:299–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vieira EM (1996) Highway mortality of mammals in central Brazil. Cienc Cult 48(4):270–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Yanes M, Velasco JM, Suárez F (1995) Permeability of roads and railways to vertebrates: the importance of culverts. Biol Conserv 71:217–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

Many friends helped with field data collection and identification of roadkills. We especially thank Graciela Horn, Sofia Zank, Patrick Colombo, Marcelo Saraiva, André Barcellos, Márcio Martins, Carla Fontana, and Márcio Repenning. Marta Cremer, Adriano Sanches Melo, Adam Switalski, and two anonymous reviewers strongly improved early versions of the manuscript. The Instituto de Biociências of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul provided financial support for road surveys.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. PPG-Ecologia, Departamento de Ecologia, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Igor Pfeifer Coelho

  2. Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, UFRGS, C.P. 15007, 90501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Andreas Kindel

  3. Laboratório de Microeletrônica, Instituto de Física, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Artur Vicente Pfeifer Coelho

Authors
  1. Igor Pfeifer Coelho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Andreas Kindel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Artur Vicente Pfeifer Coelho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas Kindel.

Additional information

Communicated by P. Krausman

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Coelho, I.P., Kindel, A. & Coelho, A.V.P. Roadkills of vertebrate species on two highways through the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve, southern Brazil. Eur J Wildl Res 54, 689–699 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-008-0197-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-008-0197-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation