Mamíferos atropelados e a fauna cinegética em duas estradas secundárias de Tefé,Am.

Abstract

Linear constructions, such as roads and highways, contribute significantly to changes in the habitats of Amazonian fauna. The traffic of vehicles and human allocation favor anthropic effects such as forest fragmentation and hunting, contributing to indirect defaunation. This study evaluates records of roadkill, at the lowest possible taxonomic level, of wild mammals and compares the proportion of game fauna and roadkill rate with ten other roadkill studies carried out in the Brazilian Amazon biome. The study was carried out in the city of Tefé in the state of Amazonas, from August 2017 to August 2022 on the Agrovila road (12.3 km) and EMADE (12.8 km). Weekly field trips were carried out at Agrovila road and monthly at EMADE road by two or more researchers using bicycles. As a result, 187 mammals were recorded as being roadkilled, belonging to 12 species. Didelphiomorphia (42.8%) and Chiroptera (42.1%) were the most representative orders. Mucura Didelphis marsupialis (34.2%) was the most roadkilled species, followed by the wood rat Rattus norvegicus (3.7%) and the bat Carollia perspicillata (3.2%). The run-over rate of 8.6 ind/km/year is among the highest among studies in Amazonas. On the other hand, no game species was found, contrary to what occurred in most similar studies carried out in the Amazon region. This study highlights the need to better understand the patterns of pedestrian collisions that are occurring on secondary roads in the Amazon.