Design and Management of Road Crossings for Small Terrestrial Wildlife
Focus Area
Wildlife & Ecosystems
Subcommittee
Natural Resources
Status
Archived
Cost
$100k-$249k
Timeframe
1-2 years
Research Idea Scope
Gather and summarize existing information on crossing structures and methods for monitoring use by small terrestrial mammals, reptiles and amphibians to develop a summary of available reports, plans and design and monitoring practices. Many projects for smaller animal crossings have been undertaken by local agencies. Producing a summary/database of projects categorized by animal guild, biotic region, road classification, monitoring types, and results with agency or group responsible would assist DOTs with developing approaches for species of concern in similar guilds. This research could be used to develop best practices guidelines in a follow-on project.
Urgency and Payoff
This project is urgent because there is a growing number of smaller terrestrial wildlife species that are being reviewed for listing under the Endangered Species Act (currently over 30 smaller terrestrial wildlife species); habitat fragmentation by roads is frequently considered a threat to these animals so it is important to be able to build on successful designs and cost-effectively document whether crossing structures successfully mitigate the fragmentation effect of roads.
Submitted
07/06/2016