Linear transportation infrastructures, such as the Sterling Highway in Alaska, USA, often intersect wildlife populations, causing wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) and disrupting wildlife movement patterns which may lead to declines in populations. A transportation improvement project was approved for the Sterling Highway to reduce highway congestion, upgrade the highway to meet design standards, and improve highway safety. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration were committed to providing wildlife crossing structures as mitigation for interference of wildlife movement patterns. We modeled movement patterns of the focal species, identified hot spots for crossing the reconstructed highway, and used that information to develop a multispecies movement map. This was used as a basis to identify the most likely locations for wildlife crossings for six focal species along the reconstructed portion of the Sterling Highway to conserve populations of species most susceptible to WVCs and disruption of movement patterns. This resulted in construction plans for four underpasses and one overpass designed specifically to facilitate wildlife crossing. Three additional structures were designed for other purposes but may enable some animal movement. Construction has been completed on two of the wildlife structures and trail-camera images have documented use.

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Case Study: Integrating Wildlife Movement Ecology into Infrastructure Development

  • Lowell H. Suring,
  • William L. Gaines,
  • James S. Begley,
  • Simon Wigren

摘要

Linear transportation infrastructures, such as the Sterling Highway in Alaska, USA, often intersect wildlife populations, causing wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) and disrupting wildlife movement patterns which may lead to declines in populations. A transportation improvement project was approved for the Sterling Highway to reduce highway congestion, upgrade the highway to meet design standards, and improve highway safety. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration were committed to providing wildlife crossing structures as mitigation for interference of wildlife movement patterns. We modeled movement patterns of the focal species, identified hot spots for crossing the reconstructed highway, and used that information to develop a multispecies movement map. This was used as a basis to identify the most likely locations for wildlife crossings for six focal species along the reconstructed portion of the Sterling Highway to conserve populations of species most susceptible to WVCs and disruption of movement patterns. This resulted in construction plans for four underpasses and one overpass designed specifically to facilitate wildlife crossing. Three additional structures were designed for other purposes but may enable some animal movement. Construction has been completed on two of the wildlife structures and trail-camera images have documented use.