Stop ignoring the small! Clues for conservation using roadkill data.
Written By Dr. Alberto González Gallina
Red de Ambiente y Sustentabilidad, Instituto de Ecología A.C. (INECOL)
2nd December, 2020
Roadkill can give us important clues about management even in areas considered to be of low conservation value. Our study in Mexico showed that small wildlife experienced high rates of mortality and just like large charismatic species, they also require and deserve actions to avoid extinction.
Figure 1: An endemic Perote ground squirrel, considered endangered by the IUCN, watches from the road´s edge as two other squirrels lay roadkilled on the asphalt, most likely her two offspring.
Farmland provides valuable habitat for fauna
Most agricultural lands are believed to be of low conservation value, especially when compared to protected areas. Can a road tell us otherwise through one its most conspicuous effects, roadkilled fauna? We quantified the richness and abundance of vertebrate roadkills along a 14 km stretch of the Amozoc-Cantona-Perote highway crossing shrubland and grassland on the border of Veracruz and Puebla, México. The grassland habitat has a long history of agriculture use while the shrubland is comparatively well preserved as it grows on a lava spill preventing agricultural use. Roadkill was assessed for only 34 days between June 2010 and March 2011. Surprisingly, we found a total of 946 roadkilled animals from 58 species, despite a common perception that the area supports little wildlife because as large-sized mammals have been locally extinct for many decades. Ten of the species we found are protected to some degree under Mexican law, while one of them, the endemic Perote ground squirrel is considered as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, without any conservation actions, the highway is only a step closer to this species extinction.
Figure 2: The Amozoc-Cantona-Perote highway (14km) in the border of Veracruz and Puebla states, México crosses two habitats, A) well preserved shrubland on a lava spill, and B) disturbed grasslands with high agricultural pressures.
Figure 3: Pie chart showing roadkill by taxonomic group and a list of priority species, protected by law found roadkilled along the Amozoc-Cantona-Perote highway, Mexico.
These findings demonstrate that many species of small-sized wildlife are subject to high rates of mortality, and far higher than expected because they are often inconspicuous, difficult to detect and do not cause significant damage to vehicles. We estimated that 11,899 vertebrates are killed annually in this section of the highway alone. The number would be mind-blowing if they were representative of large parts of Mexico!
While most of the roadkilled animals were common rodents from the genus Peromyscus, many of the other species were less common and some were at risk of extinction and protected under legislation in Mexico. Therefore, road projects in Mexico must take steps to protect wildlife during the planning and design of new roads, and also when operating existing roads.
This study highlights the importance of designing and applying effective policies and actions to avoid, minimise and mitigate the ecological impacts of roads and traffic and educate drivers in order to increased landscape connectivity and decrease rates of roadkills even in areas considered to be of ‘low conservation value’.
Author information:
Dr. Alberto González Gallina Red de Ambiente y Sustentabilidad, Instituto de Ecología A.C. (INECOL) Carretera Antigua a Coatepec No. 351, El Haya, Xalapa, Veracruz, México. PC. 91073
Tel. 52(228)8421800 fodopo@hotmail.com
Source:
González-Gallina A., Benítez-Badillo G. Rojas-Soto OR, Hidalgo-Mihart MG. 2013.The small, the forgotten and the dead: highway impact on vertebrates and its implications for mitigation strategies. Biodiversity and Conservation volume 22, pages 325–342. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-012-0396-x
González-Gallina A., Benítez-Badillo G. Rojas-Soto OR, Hidalgo-Mihart MG. 2015. Poster “The Small, The Forgotten and The Dead: Lessons from a Roadkill Survey” 2015 International Conference on Ecology & Transportation, September 20-24, 2015. Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
Editor:
Rodney van der Ree
Cite this summary:
González-Gallina, A. 2020. Stop ignoring the small! Clues for conservation using roadkill data. Edited by van der Ree, R. TransportEcology.info, Accessed at: https://transportecology.info/research/stop-ignoring-the-small, [Date accessed].