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Florida’s sewer systems are full of a “Abundance” of alligatorsRacons and a dozen other animals using drainage pipes to cross the city, scientists reveal in a new study.
Wildlife around the world is forced to navigate rapid urbanization Continue.
A new study, published in the journal Urban Naturalist, examined how wild animals use Underground rainwater sewer systems (SSS).
The researchers used camera traps to find out how fauna exploited this path, especially in the County of Alachua of the State.
Overall, scientists have found a total of 35 species of vertebrates using the sewer system to navigate, including amphibians, reptiles and birds.
“The abundance of animals there was surprising,” said the co-author of the Alan Ivory study of the University of Florida New York Times.
Seven species of reptiles have also been found, including species of American alligators Alligator Mississippiensis “documented through the greatest number of sites ”.
Most reptiles were found on sites that held water for more than half of the study period, researchers said.
Some reptiles, including the yellow belly cursor of turtle species, seemed to use the pipes as a corridors between the ponds, scientists said.
The study suggests that several animals use the sewer system to avoid crossing the highly frequented roads.
Some other animals, especially the little ones, seem to be swept away in the sewers after storms carry large amounts of water in the system, according to the researchers.
“On the 5 sites, 4 of the sites where alligators were observed were simple sanders, and for this reason, most of the observations of the alligators were animals swimming from one pond to another (35 of the 50 observations), thus avoiding crossing very busy roads “,” the scientists wrote.
Ratons washer and small bats from the southeast of the United States have made most of the observations in the sewer system, pointing to their widespread presence in underground pipes.
Other animals spotted by the camera traps included, opossums, tatous, cats, black rats, squirrels, egrets, wrens and toads.
“Our research offers a complete exploration of the diversity of vertebrates in an unconventional urban habitat and provides valuable information on the relationship between the SSS and the models of use of species,” wrote scientists.
They hope that the results could lead to more ecologically conscientious urban urban planning strategies.
Quoting a limitation of research, scientists have declared that the real number of certain reptiles could be more important in the sewers, because the camera trap system used in the study was based on an animal warmer than its environment to trigger the Image capture.
“The probabilities of detection of amphibian and reptile species are probably lower than the detection of endothermic species,” they said.
Researchers are calling for other studies to better understand why some amphibians and reptiles enter the sewer system to help prevent them from trapped.
“If amphibians fall from the sidewalk and are unable to go out, exclusion devices and climbing aid could be implemented to prevent this fauna from being trapped in the SSS”, have -They declared.