REVIEW OF THE FACTORS UNDERLYING THE MECHANISMS AND EFFECTS OF ROADS ON VERTEBRATES

Road ecology is an emerging discipline that attempts to understand the patterns and processes related with road-ecosystem interactions to establish effective mitigation measures of the negative effects of roads on wildlife. Although many advances have been made over the past 10 years, many questions are still unanswered or the information is incomplete. We discussed the factors (characteristics of roads) involved in mechanisms and effects of roads on vertebrates and the knowledge gaps. The factors evaluated were road density, road maintenance involving chemicals, presence of vehicles and traffic volume. We identified five mechanisms resulting from these factors: car avoidance, noise avoidance, road surface avoidance, road attraction and wildlife-vehicle-collisions (WVC). Density of roads causes road surface avoidance, road attraction and WVC; maintenance of roads with chemicals causes noise avoidance, road attraction and WVC; vehicle presence causes noise avoidance, car avoidance and WVC; and traffic volume causes noise avoidance and WVC. WVC was the only mechanism linked to all road factors and it occurs in combination with another mechanism (road attraction); therefore, we believe this to be the mechanism that affects most organisms. We identified many knowledge gaps related primarily to identifying the mechanisms triggered by various factors, especially for tropical organisms. We believe that studies involving tropical species could provide new results due to their greater ecological demands compared with temperate species.Road ecology is an emerging discipline that attempts to understand the patterns and processes related with road-ecosystem interactions to establish effective mitigation measures of the negative effects of roads on wildlife. Although many advances have been made over the past 10 years, many questions are still unanswered or the information is incomplete. We discussed the factors (characteristics of roads) involved in mechanisms and effects of roads on vertebrates and the knowledge gaps. The factors evaluated were road density, road maintenance involving chemicals, presence of vehicles and traffic volume. We identified five mechanisms resulting from these factors: car avoidance, noise avoidance, road surface avoidance, road attraction and wildlife-vehicle-collisions (WVC). Density of roads causes road surface avoidance, road attraction and WVC; maintenance of roads with chemicals causes noise avoidance, road attraction and WVC; vehicle presence causes noise avoidance, car avoidance and WVC; and traffic volume causes noise avoidance and WVC. WVC was the only mechanism linked to all road factors and it occurs in combination with another mechanism (road attraction); therefore, we believe this to be the mechanism that affects most organisms. We identified many knowledge gaps related primarily to identifying the mechanisms triggered by various factors, especially for tropical organisms. We believe that studies involving tropical species could provide new results due to their greater ecological demands compared with temperate species

SEASONAL AND SPATIAL VARIATION OF ROAD-KILLED VERTEBRATES ON BR-330, SOUTHWEST BAHIA, BRAZIL

 In the present study, we aimed to characterize and quantify the vertebrates road-killed along 12.8 km of the BR-330 highway in southwestern Bahia. The road is surrounded by patches of Atlantic Forest and Caatinga and by human-modified areas. From May/2012 to August/2013, we performed 35 surveys, monitoring 448 km in total. During this period, we registered 146 road-killed individuals belonging to 60 species (35 birds, 15 reptiles, 7 mammals and 3 amphibians). The species most likely to be road-killed in the study area were the toad Rhinella jimi and the snakes Oxyrhopus trigeminus and Sibynomorphus neuwiedi. The Jaccard index showed higher values when compared to the observed richness of road-killed species, which is corroborated by the ten new species recorded during five additional surveys from August/2015 to July/2016. The number of road-killed vertebrates was significantly higher in the rainy season than in the dry season. We identified 26 road-kill hotspots along the studied stretch of road. The presence of water bodies associated with vegetational landscape surrounding these hotspots may be a reason for the higher concentration of road-kills. Besides being one of the few studies conducted in an ecotonal area in the northeast of Brazil, our data indicate some important patterns that should be considered for regional and national policies on impact mitigation

Variação sazonal da fauna selvagem atropelada na rodovia MG 354, Sul de Minas Gerais – Brasil

Objetivamos avaliar a variação sazonal de atropelamentos de animais silvestres em 13km da rodovia MG 354, sul de Minas Gerais. Realizamos 36 monitoramentos ao longo de um ano utilizando uma bicicleta (20km/h) para amostrar anfíbios, répteis, aves e mamíferos atropelados. Categorizamos os indivíduos com mais e menos de 500g para estimar os impactos de atropelamento em relação ao tamanho dos animais e avaliamos a variação sazonal nas taxas de atropelamentos (indivíduos/km/dia). Os animais menores dominaram nossas amostragens, com 87% dos animais atropelados com peso inferior a 500g. Acreditamos que a baixa velocidade de monitoramento empregada no nosso trabalho tenha aumentado a taxa de detecção de animais menores, porém, essa hipótese necessita ser testada. A estação com as maiores taxas de atropelamento foi o verão, que diferiu significativamente da primavera, devido, principalmente, ao incremento dos atropelamentos de répteis no verão. Observamos esta sequência nas taxas de atropelamento: verão > outono > inverno > primavera. Acreditamos que os regimes de precipitação na nossa área de estudo sejam os responsáveis pela variação sazonal dos atropelamentos

NOVA INTERFACE DO PORTAL DA COOPERAÇÃO E DA FERRAMENTA INTEGRADA FÓRUM (ORÁCULO) BASEADA NA EXPERIÊNCIA DO USUÁRIO

The Cooperation Portal is an environment created by the Superintendence of informatics (SINFO) of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) and made available to the partner and user institutions of Integrated management systems SIG- UFRN in order to promote collaboration among those involved in the implementation process. This tool has been previously evaluated to identify the real needs of the users of the portal and resulted to enhance the tool with new features, reorganization of other ones and optimize the use of the forum as collaborative solution for exchange of experiences. The objective of this work is to perform a redesign of portal with emphasis on the forum to achieve the expectations of users and as a result, it was noticed the fulfillment of the product scope and the project defined by its users, presenting in a clear and organized way the contents necessary for the good implementation of the SIG-UFRN systems for institutions such as UFS, PRF and UFBA that are since 2009 as partners and perceive improvements that can add to the product and its needs.O Portal da Cooperação é um ambiente criado pela Superintendência de informática (SINFO) da universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) e disponibilizado para as instituições parceiras e usuárias dos sistemas Integrados de Gestão SIG-UFRN com objetivo de promover colaboração entre os envolvidos no processo de implantação. Tal ferramenta foi objeto de estudo de um trabalho que teve como principal objetivo identificar as reais necessidades dos usuários no uso do portal e como resultado foi percebido a necessidade de incrementar o Portal da Cooperação com novas funcionalidades, organização de outras já existentes e maior uso do fórum como solução colaborativa e troca de experiências. Assim, o objetivo desse trabalho foi realizar o redesign do portal da cooperação com ênfase no fórum em atendimento às expectativas dos usuários e como resultado, percebeu-se o atendimento do escopo de produto e do projeto definido por seus usuários, apresentando de forma clara e organizada os conteúdos necessários para a boa implantação dos sistemas SIG-UFRN para instituições como a UFS, PRF, UFBA que estão desde 2009 como parceiros e percebem melhorias que podem agregar ao produto e as suas necessidades

The influence of population-control methods and seasonality on the activity pattern of wild boars (Sus scrofa) on high-altitude forests

The wild boar (Sus scrofa) is a problematic invasive species which has colonized the threatened Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Our objective was to evaluate if population control and seasonality affect the circadian rhythm of wild boar activity. Wild boar activity was monitored by camera-traps for 1 year without population-control methods and 1 year with population control methods implemented in the area. Before population control was implemented, wild boar activity was uniform across 24 h, with animals being active at any given time (cathemeral). After the population control, wild boars concentrated their activities on the daylight period. Also, wild boars were more active during the wet season, possibly influenced by the presence of seeds of Araucaria angustifolia trees. Based on these results, control measures should be conducted during the wet season and different management strategies, such as the use of rifes with telescopic sights and silencers, should be tested

MAMÍFEROS DE MÉDIO E GRANDE PORTE REGISTRADOS EM FLORESTAS DOMINADAS POR Araucaria angustifolia NA RPPN ALTO-MONTANA, SERRA DA MANTIQUEIRA

A fragmentação, caça furtiva e invasão de espécies exóticas na Mata Atlântica são fatores importantes para a perda da biodiversidade de mamíferos de médio e grande porte neste bioma. A Reserva do Patrimônio Natural Alto-Montana (RPPN Alto-Montana), dominada pela Floresta Ombrófila Mista, caracterizada pela presença de Araucaria angustifolia (Pinales, Araucariaceae), se localiza na Serra da Mantiqueira, que é considerada um dos lugares insubstituíveis para a biodiversidade mundial. Utilizamos oito armadilhas fotográficas, de 2013 a 2016, com o objetivo de avaliar a riqueza e frequência relativa dos mamíferos que habitam a RPPN Alto-Montana. Encontramos 27 táxons de mamíferos de médio e grande porte, incluindo quatro espécies exóticas. Sus scrofa (Artiodactyla, Suidae) foi a espécie mais frequente (36% de registros), com mais que o dobro de registros da espécie nativa mais frequente, Didelphis aurita (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae). A conectividade da RPPN Alto-Montana com outras unidades de conservação estaduais e federais favorece a presença de espécies ameaçadas e que necessitam de grandes áreas de vida, como é o caso de carnívoros de topo de cadeia trófica ameaçados de extinção, como Chrysocyon brachyurus (Carnivora, Canidae) e Puma concolor (Carnivora, Felidae), além de pequenos felinos, como Leopardus wiedii, Puma yagouaroundi e Leopardus guttulus (Carnivora, Felidae). A principal ameaça aos mamíferos da RPPN Alto-Montana é a presença das espécies exóticas S. scrofa e Canis familiaris (Carnivora, Canidae), havendo necessidade de controle populacional dessas espécies. Desta forma, a RPPN Alto-Montana cumpre um papel fundamental para conservação dos mamíferos da Mata Atlântica, constituindo-se em uma importante área que favorece a movimentação das populações de mamíferos.MEDIUM AND LARGE MAMMALS RECORDED IN FORESTS DOMINATED BY Araucaria angustifolia FROM THE RPPN ALTO-MONTANA, SERRA DA MANTIQUIRA. Fragmentation, poaching and invasion of alien species in the Atlantic Forest are important factors for the loss of the biodiversity of medium and large mammals in this biome. The Private Reserve of Natural Heritage Alto-Montana (RPPN Alto-Montana), dominated by the Mixed Ombrophilous Forest, characterized by the presence of Araucaria angustifolia (Pinales, Araucariaceae), is located in the Serra da Mantiqueira, which is considered one of the irreplaceable places for world biodiversity. We used eight photographic traps, from 2013 to 2016, in order to evaluate the species richness and relative abundance of mammals inhabiting the RPPN Alto-Montana. We found 27 medium and large mammal species, including four alien species. Sus scrofa (Artiodactyla, Suidae) was the most frequent species (36% of records), with more than twice the number of records of the most frequent native species, Didelphis aurita (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae). The connectivity of the RPPN Alto-Montana with other state and federal protected areas favours the presence of endangered species that require large home ranges, such as top predator carnivores, such as Chrysocyon brachyurus (Carnivora, Canidae) and Puma concolor (Carnivora, Felidae), as well as small felines, such as Leopardus wiedii, Puma yagouaroundi and Leopardus guttulus (Carnivora, Felidae). The main threat to the mammals of the RPPN Alto-Montana is the presence of the alien species S. scrofa and Canis familiaris (Carnivora, Canidae), and there is a need for population control of these species. In this way the RPPN Alto-Montana plays a fundamental role for the conservation of the Atlantic Forest mammals, constituting an important area favouring the population movements of mammals