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Road permeability issues and solutions for migrating ungulates

Road permeability issues and solutions for migrating ungulates. David Rosengarten. Winter Ecology – Spring 2008 Mountain Research Station – University of Colorado, Boulder. General Negative Effects Of Roads. Mortality from construction and collisions Habitat fractionation

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Road permeability issues and solutions for migrating ungulates

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  1. Road permeability issues and solutions for migrating ungulates David Rosengarten Winter Ecology – Spring 2008 Mountain Research Station – University of Colorado, Boulder

  2. General Negative Effects Of Roads • Mortality from construction and collisions • Habitat fractionation • Modified animal behavior • Exotic species introduction • Restriction of wildlife movement • Reduction of gene flow, biodiversity

  3. Methods of Observing Crossings • GPS • Video • Tracks • Collisions

  4. Seasonal Ranges

  5. Why Did The Ungulate Cross The Road? Seasonal differences in crossing frequencies demonstrate winter effect on mammals A different study observed this trend as well in elk and deer, observing 3077 crossings in the summer and only 494 in winter. (Clevenger 2004) Graph of crossing elk/approaching elk by month (Dodd 2007)

  6. Factors Influencing Crossing Frequency and Location Elk • Season • Tolerance • Gender • Nutrients • Human • Traffic • Weekday • Fences • Crossing structures There is a lot of interaction between and within these two sets of factors

  7. Crossing Structure Design Placement: Habitat quality has shown a relation to preferred crossing areas Dimensions: The design of a structure will determine what animals are willing/able to use it Limitations: Requirements of different species require high variability in crossing structure design

  8. Conclusions • Although a severe ecological barrier, roads are crossed by mammals due to larger forcings • Seasonality has a large influence on ungulate movement and sensitivity to roads • Crossing structures can mitigate this effect but much more work needs to be done to determine the most effective methods

  9. Works Cited • S.M. Alexander, N.M. Waters. “The effects of highway transportation corridors on wildlife: a case study of Banff National Park” Transportation Research Part C 8 (2000) 307±320 • A.P. Clevenger, N. Waltho. “Performance indices to identify attributes of highway crossing structures facilitating movement of large mammals” Biological Conservation 121 (2005) 453–464 • N.L. Dodd, J.W. Gagnon, A.L. Manzo, R.E. Schweinsburg. “Video Surveillance to Assess Highway Underpass Use by Elk in Arizona” JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 71-2 (2007) 637–645 • N.L.Dodd, J.W. Gagnon, S. Boe, E.E. Schweinsburg. “Characteristics of elk-vehicle collisions and comparison to GPS-determined highway crossing patterns” (2005) http://repositories.cdlib.org/jmie/roadeco/Dodd2005a • S.C. Trombulak, C.A. Frissell. “Review of Ecological Effects of Roads on Terrestrial and Aquatic Communities” Conservation Biology V 14 no.1 (2000) 18-30 • USDA “American Elk (Cervus elaphus)” Fish and Wildlife Habitat Management Leaflet no. 11 (1999)

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