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Coming Up Next: ICOET 2009 in Minnesota!
Abstracts:
SCB North American Section Symposium
Reconciling Conservation Planning and Transportation Planning on a Regional Scale
Approach to Integrating Transportation and Conservation Planning: Examples from Florida
- Reed Noss, Ph.D., Davis-Shine Professor of Conservation Biology, Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, Phone: 407-823-0975.
- Daniel Smith, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Western Transportation Institute, Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT.
An important objective of conservation planning and reserve design is the provision for functional landscape connectivity. For instance, a well-connected network of reserves might support viable populations or metapopulations of species that might not be supported within single, isolated reserves. Roads present significant obstacles to achieving this objective. Recent research on the ecological effects of roads has demonstrated the range and intensity of impacts to landscapes and biodiversity. Results from four separate studies in Florida are discussed. We employed a broad approach to examine the overall effects of roadways on landscape connectivity for wildlife. Methods included road-kill and track surveys, mark-recapture and telemetry studies, and GIS models. Different taxa (e.g., carnivores, ungulates, selected herpetofauna, and small mammals) were used to examine effects of roads at multiple scales. This multi-species approach was used to determine presence/absence, movement patterns, and landscape use in proximity to roads. Empirical data and landscape models for different taxonomic groups suggest distinctly different types of sensitivity to traffic, roads, and road-related habitat fragmentation; hence, they require different conservation planning strategies. This research approach can provide transportation planners with the information needed to minimize negative impacts of roads on native biodiversity, landscape patterns, and ecological processes, such as fire and hydrology.
Effects of Roads and Traffic on Populations of Small Animals: Implications for Transportation Planning
- Lenore Fahrig, Geomatics and Landscape Ecology Research Lab, Dept. of Biology, Carleton Univ., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Phone: 613-520-2600.
I summarize our research on the impacts of roads and traffic on populations of small animals – amphibians and small mammals – and provide recommendations for transportation planning based on the results. Traffic density within a landscape has large effects on population sizes of several amphibian species. These effects are of the same order of magnitude and often larger than the landscape-scale effects of habitat loss. Traffic density affects amphibian population sizes up to distances of at least 2 km. Small mammals avoid crossing roads, with the result that roads limit small mammal movements across landscapes. However, there is a positive net effect of increasing road density within the landscape on small mammal population abundances. We hypothesize that this is due to negative effects of road density on predators of small mammals. I conclude with some suggestions for road design and regional planning.
Applications of Local-Scale Research for Planning and Evaluating Measures Designed to Restore Regional Landscape Connectivity
- Anthony Clevenger, Western Transportation Institute, Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT, Phone: 403-760-1371.
Historically, planning of surface transportation generally considered a one-dimensional, linear zone along the highway. Thus, the engineering and design dimensions were the primary concern for planners. In the past, we also find that mitigation for transportation impacts tended to be site-specific, with little consideration of how the project fits into the context of the surrounding ecosystem. Because of the broad landscape context of road systems, it is essential to incorporate landscape patterns and processes in the planning and construction process. Federal and state transportation agencies have recognized now that ecosystem approaches and early stakeholder involvement in identifying issues and areas of concern are essential if their projects are to be environmentally sustainable, streamlined, and garner public support. Partnering and collaborative approaches are essential when developing ecosystem and habitat conservation initiatives. Transportation agencies today need sound science-based information to guide the planning and design process. Like any developing or nascent area of applied science though, initial concepts arrive from theoretical investigations. The strength and validity of these concepts are tested and compared with results from empirical research, that help to incrementally refine the concepts and form basic principles. These concepts and principles are generally the basis from which managers and practitioners evaluate their objectives and goals, and ultimately make their decisions regarding a specific project or management scheme. Our presentation will address some practical guidelines for integrating transportation planning and landscape-scale conservation management. Learning through an adaptive management process and long-term monitoring research are ways that transportation and land management agencies can utilize science-based information to guide future projects and make them more cost-effective. We draw upon examples from 25 years of incremental highway mitigation projects in Banff National Park, Alberta, and the developing Interstate 90 Snoqualmie Pass project in Washington State. Practical management questions that relate to pre-construction data requirements, monitoring intensity, performance goals, and ecological indicators of mitigation performance in a landscape context are discussed. Last, we present a framework for developing practical guidelines to meet variable transportation standards and performance goals that range from the lowest level of genes/individuals to higher levels of populations and ecosystem concerns.
Effects of Roads on Carnivore Behavior and Ecology in Southern California: Movements, Mortality, and Gene Flow
- Seth Riley, Wildlife Ecologist, National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area, Thousand Oaks, CA and UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, CA,
Phone: 805-370-2358.
- R.M. Sauvajot, J.P. Pollinger, E.C. York, S. Ng, and R.K. Wayne, UCLA Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, CA.
Mammalian carnivores range over large areas and exist at low densities, so they can be particularly vulnerable to the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation. Southern California is one of the country’s most heavily developed regions, including an extensive road network and many wide and heavily traveled freeways. We have been studying the effects of urban development and roads on the behavior and ecology of bobcats, coyotes, and mountain lions since 1996. Freeways represent a significant barrier to movement for carnivores, although all three species do cross them, particularly when suitable crossing points are available. Roads can also represent a significant source of mortality for bobcats and coyotes, particularly larger secondary roads. The largest freeways may present a greater barrier than secondary roads, but less of a direct mortality threat: roadkill surveys on three freeways revealed that mortality was inversely related to traffic volume. Over the long-term, an important question is whether freeways also disrupt gene flow. For both bobcats and coyotes, we found that genetic differentiation was significantly greater across a freeway as opposed to along it, and that the degree of differentiation was greater than would be expected based on genetic and telemetry estimates of the number of migrants. Carnivore home range boundaries often run along roads and development. In territorial animals, these hard boundaries may represent social barriers to gene flow as migrants, often young animals, are unable to find empty territories across the road and therefore do not contribute genetically. Our results confirm that maintaining connectivity across roads is critical for the long-term conservation of carnivore populations in urban landscapes, and that techniques are available to facilitate cross-highway movement by carnivores.
Bighorn Sheep and Interstate Highways: Using Genetics to Optimize Connectivity Models for Managing the Landscape of the Future
- Clinton Epps, Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, Univ. of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, Phone: 510-643-3918.
- John Wehausen, White Mountain Research Station, Univ. of California, Bishop, CA.
- Vernon Bleich, California Dept. of Fish and Game, Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program, Bishop, CA.
- Steven Torres, California Dept. of Fish and Game, Wildlife Investigations Lab, Rancho Cordova, CA.
- Justin Brashares, Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, Univ. of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA.
Proliferating road networks are thought to have fragmented habitat for many species. However, dispersal and gene flow are often poorly understood, making it difficult to develop planning tools to analyze or mitigate disruption of landscape connectivity by transportation networks. Least-cost GIS analyses are frequently employed to estimate the relative cost of dispersal between habitat patches, identify likely movement corridors, and analyze the connectivity of human-affected landscapes. However, without detailed data on animal movements, such models may be little better than untested hypotheses. Here, we optimize and extend such an approach using genetic and radio telemetry data from 26 populations of desert bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis nelsoni. We test hypotheses about the effects of distance, topography, and human-made barriers on gene flow by incorporating those predictor variables into series of least-cost models in which we vary the relative cost of different habitat types. We apply matrix-based regression techniques to identify the model that best correlated with estimates of gene flow among these populations. The best-fit model is then used to predict which populations are connected by active corridors and to identify the least costly paths for dispersal among populations. Known inter-population movements compare well with those predicted by our model. We apply the model to examine the effects of existing highways, future highway projects, and population translocations on landscape connectivity for this species. We also discuss the implications of these findings in the context of climate-related fluctuations in habitat quality.
Eight Reasons Not to Uuse GIS Analysis for Corridor Design
- Paul Beier, Professor, Conservation Biology and Wildlife Ecology, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ, Phone: 928-523-9341.
- Dan Majka, Research Technician, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ, Phone: 928-523-6245.
- Wayne Spencer, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ.
As advocates for using GIS tools to design corridors based on needs of focal species, we must admit that skeptics have several legitimate objections, including:
- Corridors for focal species can fail to conserve ecological processes.
- Corridors are typically designed for highly mobile habitat generalists (large carnivores) and won’t serve less mobile habitat generalists.
- Corridor models uncritically assume that animal movement follows the same rules as habitat selection.
- Corridor models rely on land cover maps, digital elevation models, and road overlays simply because these data layers are available – not because these factors explain animal movement well.
- Climate change will render corridor designs useless.
- GIS models always produce a “best” corridor – even if the best is not good.
- These movement models fail to consider the fact that many species will need generations to move their genes through a corridor.
- These models ignore practical issues such as stakeholder involvement and transaction costs.
Based on our experience designing 30 wildland linkages in Arizona and southern California, we developed an approach and GIS toolkit (available free at Corridor Design) that honestly acknowledge and confront these issues. Key elements in our approach include using multiple focal species (including sedentary habitat specialists and species tied to ecological process), sensitivity analysis to disclose impacts of key assumptions, involvement of stakeholders throughout the design process (including the involvement of non-scientists in scientific issues), providing plans that integrate habitat conservation and highway crossing structures, and tools to allow implementers to evaluate alternative corridor designs.
Road Ecology in the Southern Rockies – Science, Policy and Outreach
- Julia Kintsch, Program Director, Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project, Denver, CO, Phone: 303-454-3344.
The Southern Rockies span from southern Wyoming, through Colorado and into northern New Mexico. They contain a wealth of biological diversity, with over 500 vertebrate species, thousands of natural plant communities, and rugged wildlands. Mountain lions still roam the region’s majestic mountain country, native cutthroat trout can be found in the purest mountain streams, and grand old stands of ponderosa pine can still be found in the most remote foothills. These biological treasures are threatened by human population growth, a history of destructive land use, road widening and development, and poor land management decisions.
To address habitat fragmentation in this region, the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project (SREP) has been developing programs in the emerging field of Road Ecology that include sound science, policy, as well as education and outreach. Through our Linking Colorado’s Landscapes project, SREP conducted in-depth assessments in high priority wildlife linkages. Assessments included roadway engineering inventories, wildlife movement data, land status, and a range of mitigation measures to ensure safe passage for wildlife. As an on-the-ground component to this work, SREP spearheaded the construction of a wildlife bridge at West Vail Pass to reconnect habitat for a diversity of species in the White River National Forest as well as improve driver safety. CDOT is currently developing a scope of work that will begin planning for the wildlife bridge. As a wildlife monitoring component to this project, SREP is engaging Citizen Scientists to collect wildlife movement data along I-70 through the use of motion-triggered cameras.
With sound science in place, SREP is now beginning to address real policy change at the local, state and federal level to ensure safe passage for wildlife is a priority at all levels of government. Finally, affecting change on the ground requires educating the public as well as professionals in the engineering and biological fields. To accomplish this goal, SREP is: 1) offering a continuing education course for transportation professionals and biologists, 2) developing a “Safe Passage” technical wildlife crossings handbook for engineers, biologists and conservationists, 3) distributing tens of thousands of driver safety tip sheets across Colorado in conjunction with semi-annual press releases that reach millions of people, and 4) offering a Wildlife Crossing Field course in Washington in 2008, focusing on the I-90 corridor.
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