Introduction
Ecuador is a small (283,561 km²) but highly biodiverse country hosting
two biodiversity hotspots: Choco/Darien/Western Ecuador and Tropical
Andes (considered to have the highest richness and endemism of
vertebrates species of the planet; Myers et al., 2000). Approximately
659 species of amphibians species (Ron et al. , 2021), 500
reptiles (Torres-Carvajal et al. , 2022), 1699 birds (Freile &
Poveda, 2019), and 466 mammals (Brito et al. , 2021) have been
described in Ecuador. Likely, these numbers are highly underestimated as
new species are still regularly identified (e.g., Leonan et al., 2022;
Guayasamin et al., 2022; Brito et al., 2022) and cryptic species are
probably common (Funk et al. , 2012). Ecuador is also a highly
anthropized country transected by more than 16,647 km of primary and
secondary roads (Meijer et al. , 2018) and a recent studied
estimated 420,861 birds and 119,599 mammals are roadkilled in Ecuador
each year (Medrano-Vizcaíno et al. , 2022). Additionally, with a
further 1,555 km of new roads planned by 2030 (MTOP, 2016), roadkill
numbers are predicted to increase by 9.3% (Medrano-Vizcaíno et
al. , 2022). High road mortality, high biodiversity, and limited
information have contributed to propose this territory as a priority for
road ecology research (Medrano-Vizcaíno et al. in rev.). Indeed,
systematic research (i.e., theses, and scientific papers) focused on
wildlife mortality on roads is rare in this country. To our knowledge,
the first study of this type was conducted in 2007, in the Galápagos
Islands, but focused on a single species, the Galápagos lava lizard
(Microlophus albemarlensis ) (Tanner & Perry, 2007). The first
study in continental Ecuador was conducted in 2014 (covering all
tetrapods) (Medrano-Vizcaíno, 2015). Although a few additional studies
have been published since then (González, 2018; Aguilar et al. ,
2019; Filius et al. , 2020; García-Carrasco et al. , 2020;
Zavala, 2020; Gaón & Valdez, 2021; Armendáriz, 2022), research is still
limited. This paucity of road impact assessments is common to all Latin
America (Pinto et al. , 2020), and poses a great challenge to
assess potential threats for biodiversity.
Understanding the effects of roads on wildlife populations is key for
conservation plans that include mitigation of current impacts, and to
assess risk and inform the planning of future roads. However, conducting
systematic roadkill surveys is costly and requires funding for
fieldwork, which can be scarce or unavailable in developing countries.
The continuous advancement of technology and internet access has
provided the opportunity for new ways to gather data with citizens being
involved in science projects as active collaborators. Citizen science is
a valuable approach that engages diverse people, and offer a way to
obtain field data without high costs (e.g., Mueller et al., 2019;
Medrano-Vizcaíno et al., 2020). Data on road impacts obtained from
citizen science projects can complement systematic surveys. Indeed,
several citizen science projects have collected roadkill data and
contributed to inform about the magnitude of road impacts on wildlife in
different parts of the world (see Chyn et al., 2019; Périquet et al.,
2018; Raymond et al., 2021; Swinnen et al., 2022; Valerio et al., 2021).
Moreover, involving the public with the collection of roadkill data
offers an opportunity to provide environmental education and awareness
in local communities (Vercayie & Herremans, 2015), which could
significantly contribute to reduce wildlife mortality on roads.
The scarce and disperse information on road impacts in Ecuador has
limited the potential to identify the areas and species most affected
and likely has prevented the development of environmental policies to
require consideration of road impacts during the planning of new
infrastructures. As a first step to address the knowledge gap, we
present a national database consisting of >5000 roadkill
records from systematic studies and non-systematic methods representing
454 wild species. Analysing this database, we identify species with high
mortality that may require protection measures, and reveal unstudied
areas (research gaps) where citizen and scientific efforts are needed to
best understand the impacts of roads on Ecuadorian wildlife. Compiling
this data required collaboration among citizens and academics. We hope
to raise awareness of the issue of road impacts on wildlife in Ecuador
and encourage policy makers and researchers to work together to collect
needed data to guide conservation plans and sustainable roads.