Traffic mammals attraction of the highway MT-358

Abstract

The main ecological impacts caused by roads are: changes in behavior; stress and / or removal of native species; modification in the food chain; fragmentation and alteration of habitats by edge effect; population isolation and loss of individuals due to vehicle collision. This work was carried out on the highway MT-358, which connects the city of Nova Olimpia to the State University of Mato Grosso campus of Tangará da Serra, with approximately 40 km of route. The records of the trampled animals were carried out between December 2016 and December 2017. A total of 21 monthly samplings were recorded during the study period. Thirty-eight mammals were recorded on the MT-358 highway during the study period, totaling 13 species of mammals distributed in 08 families. The most abundant species were Tamandua tetradactyla (23.7%), Euphractus sexcinctus (15.8%) and Cerdocyon thous (15.8%). These three most abundant species account for 55.3% of occurrences. Therefore, we suggest that road management institutions use methods that will help ensure adequate migration to the fauna and reduce the risk of impact of running over fauna on already paved roads.

Keywords

• Run-off, Tamanduá-mirim, Highway