Abstract

ORTEGA, Aurora  and  WEILER, Andrea. Diversity of vertebrates affected by roadkill and areas of greatest impact in Ruta III General Elizardo Aquino, Paraguay. Rep. cient. FACEN [online]. 2018, vol.9, n.1, pp.31-41. ISSN 2222-145X.  https://doi.org/10.18004/rcfacen.2018.9.1.31.

Although the collision of animals on roads has been widely evaluated in the world, there are few stud- ies in Paraguay. This work contributes to the understanding of the problem of mortality of wildlife by vehicular traffic in Route III Gral. Elizardo Aquino, quantifying the roadkill’s of wildlife, identifying taxonomically the species, and determining the areas of greatest impact of vehicular collision. We chose 120 km of road, to carry out samplings twice a month, from April to October 2015, traveling by vehicle at 60 km per hour. Six transects were established for walking, in order to detect small species. The individuals found were listed, photographed, georeferenced and identified up to the most accurate taxonomic level possible. As a result, 109 individuals of 34 species were recorded. The results suggest that reptiles have the highest number of species affected by vehicular collisions (38%), while mammals have the highest number of individuals run over (47%). The most frequent species were Cerdocyon thous, Caracara plancus and Eunectes notaeus. The most critical areas in relation to roadkill’s correspond to the zones of the Arroyo Hondo, and the Piribebuy and Yhaguy rivers, where there is less human presence and better conserved habitats. Adaptations of the existing road infrastructures is needed to ensure non-specific fauna passages for wildlife.

Keywords : highways; collisions; mortality; amphibians; reptiles; birds; mammals.

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