Atropelamento de vertebrados, hotspots de atropelamentos e parâmetros associados, BR-050, trecho Uberlândia-Uberaba

Abstract

Roads impact the environment in several ways. In Brazil, one of the impacts of roads in the environment most studied is wildlife roadkill. It is estimated that 475 million of animals die over a year. Therefore, it is necessary to establish measures to mitigate wildlife roadkill, such as wildlife passages and fencing the highway. Using data from wildlife roadkill, it is possible to establish priority sites for the establishment of mitigation measures (hotspots). In this context, the main objective of this work was to raise the roadkill of vertebrate groups in the stretch Uberlândia-Uberada of the BR-050, identifying the occurrence and location of roadkill hotspots. The study area was a stretch of the BR-050 between Uberlândia-Uberaba. The monitoring was performed weekly during one year, with a total of 8064 km covered in 42 trips. The vehicle followed with a speed of 60 km/h. It was found 690 vertebrates killed by collisions with vehicles. Of these, 482 (70%) were mammals, 145 (21%) birds, 56 (8%) reptiles, 7 (1%), frogs. From the total of wild vertebrates killed, 113 (16.3%) individuals were not identified in the species level. The rate of animals roadkill per trip in the BR-050, stretch Uberlândia-Uberaba, was 0.086 (± 0.029) individuals/km/day. There wasn t a tendency for sample sufficiency in most of the sampled classes. It was found differences in the roadkill rate between the seasons wet and dry for: wild vertebrates, reptiles, Boa constrictor amarali, Euphractus sexcinctus, and Cariama cristata. The monthly rate of reptile roadkill increased with increasing temperature and total monthly precipitation. The monthly rate of wild vertebrates roadkill increased with increasing relative humidity and total monthly precipitation. It was found aggregations of roadkill in many groups and species. The location of roadkill aggregations seem to be related to the habits of the species or groups. Wild mammals aggregations roadkill appear to be different from those of domestic mammals. The location of wild mammals roadkills is not a good predictor for the location of the roadkill of the most abundant species of mammals, reptiles and birds. So, it is necessary to investigate the roadkill hotspots all these groups separately. It is suggested that mesures to mitigate the wildlife roadkill be taken.