Mortalidad de vertebrados silvestres en la carretera Troncal del Caribe, Magdalena, Colombia

Abstract

Road networks cause great impacts on the environment, from the direct mortality of wild animals that are hit by moving vehicles to the reduction of connectivity in the landscape and the isolation of natural populations. In Colombia, studies on wildlife roadkill are incipient, and there are still many gaps in the generation of primary information, especially on the roads of the Caribbean coast. For this reason, we selected two road stretches in the Colombian Caribbean region: 1) Isla Salamanca National Natural Park highway (45 km) and 2) Tayrona National Natural Park highway (34 km). On both roads, monthly trips were made on board a vehicle at a maximum speed of 30 km/h during 5 months, between October 2016 and January 2017. We recorded a total of 208 roadkills (46 identified species), being reptiles and mammals the most affected groups in segments 1 and 2, respectively. Finally, we calculated the roadkill rate (TA) for each species. The species Boa constrictor and Procyon cancrivorus stand out because they obtained highest TA values reported in Latin America