Look both ways: factors affecting roadkill probability in blue-black grassquits (Volatinia jacarina)

Caroline Mello Soares, Raphael Igor Dias
2020 Canadian Journal of Zoology  
The contribution of roads to human economic and social development contrasts with its impact on the environment and wildlife. One of the most significant impacts of roads is wildlife-vehicle collisions. Millions of individuals from numerous species are killed annually around the world. Here we investigated the spatial and temporal dynamics of road killing on a small neotropical bird, the blue-black grassquit, Volatinia jacarina (Linnaeus, 1766). We used a dataset of roadkill records collected
more » ... tween 2010 and 2015 to test the hypotheses that roadkills are concentrated during the species' breeding period and that road features and weather conditions affect the likelihood of animal-vehicle collisions. We observed that the number of fatalities was temporally and spatially clustered. Roadkills were more frequent in warmer, rainy days with lower wind speed. Fatalities were more commonly associated with two-lane roads in comparison to dirt and four-lane roads. Given the fact that grassquits are attracted by human-modified habitats, especially by artificial grasslands composed of exotic grasses usually found along the margins of roads, mitigation measures should focus on the management and control of grass populations. Road-side mowing may reduce areas for the establishment of grassquits territories and, consequently, reduce the species activity near-by roads.
doi:10.1139/cjz-2020-0004 fatcat:sicxntzx4bgz5gyyiznwsnbtcm