Roadkill of birds in Galapagos Islands: a growing need for solutions

A major step in the development of conservation measures would be to study and understand the sources of non-natural mortality in wild fauna. The implementation of such measures should be a priority in oceanic islands because biodiversity hotspots are concentrated in these locations. Furthermore, an...

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Autores principales:	José-María García-Carrasco, Washington Tapia, Antonio-Román Muñoz
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Resilience Alliance 2020
Materias:	conservation endemic species human-wildlife conflicts island biodiversity threats Plant culture SB1-1110 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Plant ecology QK900-989
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/0336eeea64ab47b58c52687bc25d4e60
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:0336eeea64ab47b58c52687bc25d4e602021-12-02T11:34:35ZRoadkill of birds in Galapagos Islands: a growing need for solutions1712-6568https://doaj.org/article/0336eeea64ab47b58c52687bc25d4e602020-06-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.ace-eco.org/vol15/iss1/art19/https://doaj.org/toc/1712-6568A major step in the development of conservation measures would be to study and understand the sources of non-natural mortality in wild fauna. The implementation of such measures should be a priority in oceanic islands because biodiversity hotspots are concentrated in these locations. Furthermore, anthropogenic changes have a greater impact on island species than on their mainland relatives. This situation is of particular relevance in the Galápagos Archipelago, owing to its rapid population growth and the striking increase in the number of vehicles. The latter aspect is due to attempts by the tourist industry to stimulate the economy in this area. Thus, the environment and biota are under new pressures. There are few studies on the effects of wildlife roadkill in the Galápagos. We surveyed two stretches of a 13.8-km road in two different vegetation zones on the island of Santa Cruz. This island has the highest population and the greatest number of tourists in the archipelago. We determined the spatial patterns of bird roadkill using counts, which were conducted via bicycle rides. We recorded 168 carcasses comprising seven species (six native and one invasive). Roadkill did not occur at the same rate over the two stretches: it was significantly higher over Stretch 1, which had a greater volume of traffic. Neither were species equally distributed over the stretches. We identified a high-mortality black spot within Stretch 1 in an area in which high-speed traffic may have contributed strongly to roadkill. We also estimated the carcass disappearance rate to better determine the roadkill rate. Data on the disappearance rate could be of help in the design and implementation of future studies. This study presents the first data on the road mortality rate in the Galápagos Islands, finding that it is much higher than in other natural areas. This represents a first step toward minimizing the growing threat to Galápagos birds, and provides a basis for future research on conservation management plans in the Galápagos Islands.José-María García-CarrascoWashington TapiaAntonio-Román MuñozResilience Alliancearticleconservationendemic specieshuman-wildlife conflictsisland biodiversitythreatsPlant cultureSB1-1110Environmental sciencesGE1-350Plant ecologyQK900-989ENAvian Conservation and Ecology, Vol 15, Iss 1, p 19 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	conservation endemic species human-wildlife conflicts island biodiversity threats Plant culture SB1-1110 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Plant ecology QK900-989
spellingShingle	conservation endemic species human-wildlife conflicts island biodiversity threats Plant culture SB1-1110 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Plant ecology QK900-989 José-María García-Carrasco Washington Tapia Antonio-Román Muñoz Roadkill of birds in Galapagos Islands: a growing need for solutions
description	A major step in the development of conservation measures would be to study and understand the sources of non-natural mortality in wild fauna. The implementation of such measures should be a priority in oceanic islands because biodiversity hotspots are concentrated in these locations. Furthermore, anthropogenic changes have a greater impact on island species than on their mainland relatives. This situation is of particular relevance in the Galápagos Archipelago, owing to its rapid population growth and the striking increase in the number of vehicles. The latter aspect is due to attempts by the tourist industry to stimulate the economy in this area. Thus, the environment and biota are under new pressures. There are few studies on the effects of wildlife roadkill in the Galápagos. We surveyed two stretches of a 13.8-km road in two different vegetation zones on the island of Santa Cruz. This island has the highest population and the greatest number of tourists in the archipelago. We determined the spatial patterns of bird roadkill using counts, which were conducted via bicycle rides. We recorded 168 carcasses comprising seven species (six native and one invasive). Roadkill did not occur at the same rate over the two stretches: it was significantly higher over Stretch 1, which had a greater volume of traffic. Neither were species equally distributed over the stretches. We identified a high-mortality black spot within Stretch 1 in an area in which high-speed traffic may have contributed strongly to roadkill. We also estimated the carcass disappearance rate to better determine the roadkill rate. Data on the disappearance rate could be of help in the design and implementation of future studies. This study presents the first data on the road mortality rate in the Galápagos Islands, finding that it is much higher than in other natural areas. This represents a first step toward minimizing the growing threat to Galápagos birds, and provides a basis for future research on conservation management plans in the Galápagos Islands.
format	article
author	José-María García-Carrasco Washington Tapia Antonio-Román Muñoz
author_facet	José-María García-Carrasco Washington Tapia Antonio-Román Muñoz
author_sort	José-María García-Carrasco
title	Roadkill of birds in Galapagos Islands: a growing need for solutions
title_short	Roadkill of birds in Galapagos Islands: a growing need for solutions
title_full	Roadkill of birds in Galapagos Islands: a growing need for solutions
title_fullStr	Roadkill of birds in Galapagos Islands: a growing need for solutions
title_full_unstemmed	Roadkill of birds in Galapagos Islands: a growing need for solutions
title_sort	roadkill of birds in galapagos islands: a growing need for solutions
publisher	Resilience Alliance
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/0336eeea64ab47b58c52687bc25d4e60
work_keys_str_mv	AT josemariagarciacarrasco roadkillofbirdsingalapagosislandsagrowingneedforsolutions AT washingtontapia roadkillofbirdsingalapagosislandsagrowingneedforsolutions AT antonioromanmunoz roadkillofbirdsingalapagosislandsagrowingneedforsolutions
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Roadkill of birds in Galapagos Islands: a growing need for solutions

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