Listed below are research, documents, and reports pertinent to wildlife and ecosystems. If you would like to suggest additional research, documents, or reports on this topic, please submit a short description to AASHTO (including any pertinent links) on theShare Info with AASHTO form.
Wildlife and Roads: A Resource to Help Mitigate Roads for Wildlife
An Internet-based interactive decision guide and resource center, Wildlife and Roads: A Resource to Help Mitigate Roads for Wildlife, was developed as part of National Cooperative Highway Research Program Project 25-27 and is now housed on the Center for Environmental Excellence by AASHTO website. The site provides a wealth of information, including links to the final NCHRP 25-27 report, as well as online access to related resources including a step-by-step decision guide for practitioners. The final report, Evaluation of the Use and Effectiveness of Wildlife Crossings, summarizes research on the use and effectiveness of wildlife crossings to mitigate habitat fragmentation and reduce wildlife vehicle collisions. The report provides guidelines for the selection, configuration, and location of wildlife crossing types and suggestions for the monitoring and evaluation of their effectiveness and maintenance.
Wildlife-Vehicle Collision Reduction Study: Report to Congress - U.S. DOT and FHWA, August 2008; Wildlife-Vehicle Collision Reduction Study: Best Practices Manual, U.S. DOT and FHWA, October 2008. The Report to Congress focuses on tools, methods, and other measures that reduce the number of collisions between vehicles and large wildlife, such as deer, because these accidents present the greatest safety danger to travelers and cause the most damage. The manual builds on the information in the Report to Congress, providing best practices for practitioners responsible for addressing this problem.
Wildlife and Roads, National Cooperative Highway Research Program Project 25-27.This project was a three year team effort with the objectives to provide guidance, in the form of clearly written guidelines for the selection, configuration, and location of wildlife crossing structures, and the monitoring and evaluation of crossing effectiveness as well as maintenance of those structures. Also see Wildlife and Roads: A Resource to Help Mitigate Roads for Wildlife, on this website.
Assessing and Managing the Ecological Impacts of Paved Roads,Committee on Ecological Impacts of Road Density, National Research Council - ISBN: 978-0-309-10088-5, 324 pages, 6 x 9, paperback (2005).
Interactions of Roadways and Wildlife Ecology (2002), National Cooperative Highway Research Program Project 20-5, Synthesis Report Synthesis Report 305. This synthesis study reviews the interactions that occur during the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of roadways that can affect ecological systems and wildlife.
The Scan of the Wild: An international tour checks out how European countries handle roadkill, habitat fragmentation, and other impacts of highways on wildlife
Overview of Transportation Impacts on Wildlife Movement and Populations, [PDF 230kb] (Jackson, S.D. 2000. Overview of Transportation Impacts on Wildlife Movement and Populations, pp. 7-20 In Messmer, T.A. and B. West, (eds) Wildlife and Highways: Seeking Solutions to an Ecological and Socio-economic Dilemma. The Wildlife Society).
Wildlife-Friendly Stream and Undercrossing Research – Webpage of the Association of State Wetland Managers contains links to research and other resources on stream crossings for fish and wildlife passage.
A Strategy for Mitigating Highway Impacts on Wildlife [PDF 694kb], 2002 Jackson, S.D. and C.R. Griffin. 2000. In Messmer, T.A. and B. West, (eds) Wildlife and Highways: Seeking Solutions to an Ecological and Socio-economic Dilemma. The Wildlife Society.
Highways and Wildlife: Problems and Solutions, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension. (Document WEC-172, one of a series of the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: 1993, as SS-WIS-41. Revised February 2003.)
The State of the Birds: 2010 Report on Climate Change (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, March 2010) – Report examines the effects of climate change on U.S. bird species, finding that climate change will have an increasingly disruptive effect on bird species in all habitats, with oceanic and Hawaiian birds most affected. Includes information on U.S. bird species and their habitats, examples of what could happen due to climate change, and suggested solutions and efforts needed to help address these issues. The report is a follow-up to a comprehensive 2009 report showing that that nearly a third of the nation's 800 bird species are endangered, threatened, or in significant decline.
Oregon Department of Transportation Migratory Bird Treaty Act Directive [PDF 2.80mb] (Jan. 17, 2006) – Provides agency personnel involved in project delivery, construction, and maintenance with guidelines and strategies to ensure that appropriate and reasonable measures are taken to prevent injury to and death of migratory birds.
Impacts Of Highways On Dutch Breeding Birds: an analysis by applying national bird censuses. Proceedings of the 2003 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation.
Do Highways Influence Density of Land Birds? Land bird densities in roadside habitats were studied in 17 locations in central Finland by the line transect method. 1998, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota.
NCHRP Research Results Digest 363: Hydroacoustic Impacts on Fish from Pile Installation - This report, produced under the Transportation Research Board's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP Project 25-28), presents the results of a field study that sought quantitative data to help define criteria for onset of fish tissue damage that could be used in the design of future pile driving projects to minimize impacts to fish.
FishXing Website - This software is intended to assist engineers, hydrologists, and fish biologists in the evaluation and design of culverts for fish passage. It is free and available for download. A beta release of Version 3 is now available. Version 2.2 of FishXing is currently the stable release. Hosted by the U.S. Forest Service.
Culvert Design for Fish Passage in Pennsylvania [PDF 205 kb], 2001, David E. Spotts, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Proceedings of the 2001 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation.
Providing for Fish Passage. Washington State DOT (September 2012). This folio provides an overview of WSDOT’s fish passage barrier removal program. The document describes work the department has completed to correct barriers to fish passage, how it prioritizes culvert projects for fish barrier corrections, and how culverts are designed to provide fish passage.
Memorandum of Agreement among the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Marine Fisheries Service to achieve the goals of the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Fisheries
The Policy for Evaluation of Conservation Efforts [PDF 100kb] when making listing decisions (published March 28, 2003). The policy helps guide other Federal agencies, State, local, tribal, and foreign governments, businesses, organizations and individuals in their efforts to restore populations of declining species before they require the protection of the Endangered Species Act.
Several cooperative policy statements with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service related to socio-economic effects in recovery planning, peer review, the role of state agencies, ecosystem approaches, and information standards (July 1, 1994).
A Regional Ecosystem Framework for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife along the I-70 Corridor in Colorado - This report by the Western Transportation Institute documents a collaborative project with the Colorado Department of Transportation to apply FHWA’s Eco-Logical ecosystem-based approach to integrating wildlife concerns into transportation infrastructure development along Colorado’s I-70 Mountain Corridor.
An Assessment of Traffic Safety in Urban Deer Herd Management Zones in Iowa – Report by the Center for Transportation Research and Education at Iowa State University examines the relationship between deer-vehicle collisions, deer density, and land use in three urban areas in Iowa that have deer management plans. (February 2010)
Oregon Department of Transportation Migratory Bird Treaty Act Directive [PDF 2.80mb] (Jan. 17, 2006) – Provides agency personnel involved in project delivery, construction, and maintenance with guidelines and strategies to ensure that appropriate and reasonable measures are taken to prevent injury to and death of migratory birds.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Strategic Plan for Climate Change - Strategic plan for coordinating the agency’s efforts to address climate change impacts to natural resources. Included as an appendix is a Five-Year Action Plan for implementing the Strategic Plan. (September 2010)
Season’s End: Global Warming’s Threat to Hunting and Fishing - Report of the Assoc. of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Wildlife Management Institute, and several national outdoor organizations summarizes scientific research on the effects of climate change on fish and wildlife. (April 2008)
Transportation Research Record Journal, Issue No. 2011, Environmental Issues 2007 includes 22 peer-reviewed papers covering diverse subjects including efforts by departments of transportation to develop environmental management systems, vehicle emissions modeling, air quality benefits of freeway high-occupancy vehicle lanes in southern California, use of highway underpasses for large mammals and other wildlife, and others. (1-18-08)
Transportation Planning: State and Metropolitan Planning Agencies Report Using Varied Methods to Consider Ecosystem Conservation. GAO-04-536 [PDF 2.19mb], May 17, 2004. Highlights [PDF 79kb]
Endangered Species: Despite Consultation Improvement Efforts in the Pacific Northwest, Concerns Persist about the Process. GAO-03-949T [PDF 178kb] June 25, 2003 Highlights [PDF 64kb] , Accessible Text, Abstract
Columbia River Basin Salmon and Steelhead: Federal Agencies' Recovery Responsibilities, Expenditures and Actions. GAO-02-612 [PDF 6.49mb] July 26, 2002 Accessible Text, Abstract
Endangered Species: Research Strategy and Long-Term Monitoring Needed for the Mojave Desert Tortoise Recovery Program. GAO-03-23 [PDF 970kb] December 9, 2002 Highlights [PDF 434kb] , Accessible Text, Abstract
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