Road ecology blog: Canopy crossings for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parque) Capelinha-Mauá (RJ-163), near Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Road ecology blog: This road was recently upgraded from an unpaved road to a paved road. The road goes through a protected area in the "Serra da Pedra Selada" mountain range, and was designed as a "park road" (estrada-parque) with a low design speed, low posted maximum speed, wildlife warning signs and crossing structures for terrestrial animals and arboreal mammals. The road goes through Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica).

There are several large metal canopy crossing structures across the road. They are about 10 m wide, 6 m high, and they span the entire width of the road. They are by far the largest canopy crossing structures I have ever seen, and they are designed to provide safe crossing opportunities for arboreal mammals (e.g. brown howler monkey (Alouatta guariba), black capuchin monkey (Sapajus nigritus), marmosets (Callithrix sp.), white-eared opossum (Didelphis albiventris) and Brazilian porcupine (Coendou prehensilis)). The structures are sturdy and should be able to support vines and epiphytes when these plants colonize the structures. However, while the structure shown in the images below is at canopy level, the structure provides no or very limited connectivity to the crowns of the surrounding trees. This could be easily retrofitted by attaching several ropes or cables between the structure and perhaps five or more trees on each side of the structure.

Click here for more images of canopy crossings for arboreal mammals.

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Canopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parquCanopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parque) Capelinha-Mauá (RJ-163), near Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Note that while the crossing is at canopy level, the connectivity to the canopy of teh surrounding trees is largely absent. Canopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parquCanopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parque) Capelinha-Mauá (RJ-163), near Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Note that while the crossing is at canopy level, the connectivity to the canopy of teh surrounding trees is largely absent. Canopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parquCanopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parque) Capelinha-Mauá (RJ-163), near Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Note that while the crossing is at canopy level, the connectivity to the canopy of teh surrounding trees is largely absent. Canopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parquCanopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parque) Capelinha-Mauá (RJ-163), near Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Note that while the crossing is at canopy level, the connectivity to the canopy of teh surrounding trees is largely absent. Canopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parquCanopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parque) Capelinha-Mauá (RJ-163), near Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Note that while the crossing is at canopy level, the connectivity to the canopy of teh surrounding trees is largely absent. Canopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parquCanopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parque) Capelinha-Mauá (RJ-163), near Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Note that while the crossing is at canopy level, the connectivity to the canopy of teh surrounding trees is largely absent. Canopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parquCanopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parque) Capelinha-Mauá (RJ-163), near Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Note that while the crossing is at canopy level, the connectivity to the canopy of teh surrounding trees is largely absent. Canopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parquCanopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parque) Capelinha-Mauá (RJ-163), near Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Note that while the crossing is at canopy level, the connectivity to the canopy of teh surrounding trees is largely absent. Canopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parquCanopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parque) Capelinha-Mauá (RJ-163), near Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Canopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parquCanopy crossing for arboreal mammals, "park road" (estrada-parque) Capelinha-Mauá (RJ-163), near Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Note that while the crossing is at canopy level, the connectivity to the canopy of teh surrounding trees is largely absent.