Study On Effectiveness Of Two Types Animalpassage For Amphibians Conservation And Improvement Factors Along Shaogan Expressway (Guangdong Province)

Animal passage systems can significantly reduce the influences of road on animals, while the effectiveness of crossing structures has not been fully evaluated. I evaluated use of6crossing structures (underpass and culvert) using pitfall with fences along State highway60(Shaogan Highway) in Guangdong Province from Oct.2009to Sep.2010. During that period, I completed three sections of research:(1) we recorded visits by amphibians and compared the effects of underpass and culvert.(2)The relationship between the environment factors both outside and inside of the crossing structures in whole three study areas and the use of crossing structures by amphibians were studied, and then some design and location suggestions of animal passage were proposed.(3) An experiment about the relationship between waterway design features (e.g., angle) with amphibians escape ability and based on that, I designed a new amphibians friendly waterway along road.The main conclusions are as follow:1. A total of7species were recorded in the basic survey, which belong to1order,5families. There is one specie named Rana rugulosa is second-grade state protected species, and the other six species are belong to the list of beneficial animal published by State Forestry Bureau.2. Four laws for amphibians using crossing structures:â‘ The effectiveness of underpass to amphibians is better than that of culvert.â‘¡The ecological type of amphibians can be use as a reference standard when the type of crossing structures is selected. The environment inside animal passages is the first factor that decides whether amphibians use the structure.â‘¢The main period that animal passages are used by amphibians is the breed period.â‘£The influence of human beings on the use of animal passages by amphibians is not significant.3. Vegetation and water are two first-grade factors which influence the location selected of animal passages.4. Two principles of waterway designâ‘ The max angle of waterway wall for amphibians to escape successfully is deiced by species and wall material, not weight and length of amphibians.â‘¡Vegetation fell into the waterway can mitigate the lethal effect of waterway through helping amphibians to escape.Based on the conclusions above, improvement recommends were proposed.