Majority of Roadkill Amongst Vertebrates in Catalonia, Spain, Are in Protected Areas

ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2012) — Amphibians are the vertebrate group that is more likely to become roadkill in Catalonia, even more so than reptiles, mammals and birds. This is the case according to an international team of scientists who have concluded that highly protected areas are home to more cases of animal death on the roads.

Our network of roads is considered one of the main threats to fauna survival. Researchers at the universities of Barcelona (UB), Porto (Portugal) and Uppsala (Sweden) have studied the number of vertebrate deaths on 820 kilometres of road in North Eastern area of Spain and Portugal.

"The project consisted of analysing the impact of the road network on fauna, leading to numerous studies across the whole of Catalonia to record all specimens of roadkill found," as explained by Núria Garriga, researcher at the UB and lead author of the study headed by Gustavo A. Llorente, a scientist at the same university.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121024093034.htm