A perda da fauna de serpentes, lagartos e anfisbenas num trecho da br 290, município de São Gabriel, rs, Brasil

Abstract

The mortality through run-over is a factor of high impact on natural populations. This study aimed to quantify the loss of snakes, lizards and amphisbaena fauna in a patch of the BR 290, in the municipality of São Gabriel – RS. Riding a bicycle, four kilometers of the highway were evaluated from May 2009 to May 2010. Over this period, 429 dead-on-road individuals from Squamata were found, representing 57% of the estimated diversity of the region. The high number of Helicops infrataeniatus dead-on-road reported in this study can be related to adults before the mating period, when they should be more propitious to run-over, since they are looking for mating-pairs. In addition, juveniles tend to disperse just after they are born. So, native populations which use areas surrounding the highway have their mortality increased. In parallel to the economical and social benefits of the highway, their negative effects to the native fauna are recognized as one of the main factors to the loss of the world biodiversity.