Data highway to the sea.xlsx

Highway
infrastructure is a source of multiple environmental problems, where wildlife roadkills
is the most noticeable impact. However, little research has focused on
understanding how road design affects wildlife mortality. On a highway in the
central Andes of Colombia, we tested whether the geometric design, it is
horizontal alignment and vertical curves influence the mortality of vertebrate animals
on the road. We determined the number of straight lines, circular, transition
curves and vertical convex curves along the entire route of the highway (13.9
km), and between April 2018 and December 2019 we made 4 weekly tours in search
of wildlife roadkills. With records, we related and compared groups of animal deaths
and road shapes. We got 95 roadkills; the shape in which most of the deaths
were found was straight line (58 deaths), however, when the mortality rate per
meter of route was obtained on the shape units, we found that the circular and transition
curves presented 2 an 3 times (respectively) a higher mortality rate than
straight lines. Curved sections are presented as more dangerous geometric
designs than straight lines for wildlife, regardless of their length on the
road. Our research provides information necessary to take into account the
relationship of geometric road design in the development of management and
conservation plans of altered ecosystems with road infrastructure.