Spatial patterns of carnivore roadkill in a high-traffic-volume highway in the endangered Brazilian Atlantic Forest

In the past decade, we have been witnessing an unprecedented expansion of roads and other transportation infrastructure, especially in developing countries in South America and southeastern Asia. However, comprehensive information on roadkills is not available for many countries. Mammalian carnivores are especially vulnerable to roadkill events due to their relatively large body size, high dispersion capacity, and low density. In this way, we analysed the spatial patterns of roadkills of four medium-sized carnivorous mammals, including two threatened species (the crab-eating fox, Cerdocyon thous; the maned wolf, Chrysocyon brachyurus; the ocelot, Leopardus pardalis and the jaguarundi, Herpailurus yagouaroundi), at a high-traffic road immersed in the Atlantic Forest biome, a globally recognized biodiversity hotspot. We aimed at identifying whether roadkills were spatially clustered forming hotspots and analysed which landscape characteristics (percentage of urban areas, forest cover, herbaceous cover, crop fields, and proximity to water bodies) explained roadkill distribution over 12 years. Roadkills were concentrated in two areas of the BR-040 highway and were associated with areas with high percentage of herbaceous vegetation (except for the crab-eating fox). Overall, species avoided altered areas such as crop fields and urban areas, and only the ocelot had roadkills directly associated with continuous forest areas. The present study demonstrates the importance of long-term monitoring programs in evaluating the pattern of roadkills in a complex landscape and, for the first time, we were able to identify areas with a high probability of roadkill for two felid species, the ocelot and the jaguarundi.

Automated summary

In the past decade, there has been a significant expansion of roads and other transportation infrastructure, especially in developing countries. However, comprehensive information on roadkills is lacking in many countries. This study analyzed the spatial patterns of roadkills of four medium-sized carnivorous mammals in the Atlantic Forest biome, and identified areas with high roadkill probability for two felid species.