Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation
-
Upload
dale-steele -
Category
Documents
-
view
222 -
download
2
description
Transcript of Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation
![Page 1: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Conserving wildlife biodiversity in a land of roads
Dale SteeleCalifornia Department of Fish and Game
![Page 2: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Species rarity and richnessin the United States
Based on Precious Heritage, Stein et al. 2000. Used by permission.
High
Low
![Page 3: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
California is UNIQUE
Climate + Geology = Speciation = Endemism
![Page 4: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
High biological diversity
> 6000 species of plants> 1400 species of
animals, including fish> 1300 vegetation types> 2000 types of distinct
plant associations
![Page 5: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Species at risk in California
> 400 Listed plants > 200 Listed animals > 200 Species of Special Concern> 1000 Sensitive plants (CNPS)
![Page 6: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
California highway facts• About 15,000 miles of state highways • More than 23.4 million registered vehicles • Annual vehicle miles traveled exceeds 280 billion• Road density averages 1.2 mile/square mile• Highways, streets and adjacent right-of-way total
about 20 million acres • Roads equal about 1 % of the total US land area
![Page 7: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Biological concerns• About a fifth of the US land area directly affected
by the road network• Roads generally reduce population size and
increase the risk of population extinction of sensitive species
• Considerable time lag before the full impact to wildlife and natural communities can be seen
• No systematic records of wildlife mortality on US roads
![Page 8: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
• Direct loss of habitat • Decrease quality of adjacent habitat• Habitat fragmentation• Roadkills• Impede animal movements
Successful wildlife crossing decreases significantly as roads are upgraded to accommodate greater traffic volume. Smaller populations may result, with a greater potential of genetic problems and increased chance of local extinction.
More ecological effects
![Page 9: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
More info needed• Roadkill data spotty and limited • Baseline effects of roads on wildlife,
effectiveness of existing mitigation, and priority locations for additional studies not known
• Little known about long-lasting ecological effects in terms of reduced mobility, increased isolation, and/or splitting of gene pools
• Especially important to determine critical road density at which a population can no longer persist
![Page 10: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Strong environmental laws• California Endangered Species Act (CESA)• California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)• Natural Community Conservation Planning Act
(NCCPA)
©C
harle
s W
ebbe
r
![Page 11: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Conservation planning• Ecosystem level
– Multiple species– Natural communities– Ecological
processes– Common as well as
rare species• Science-based• Interconnected reserve
systems
![Page 12: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Species selection• Degree of threat or endangerment• Endemism• Highly restricted habitat• Surrogates for ecological processes• Adequacy of inventory/monitoring
©M
oose
Pet
erso
n
©G
eral
d &
Buf
f Cor
si
![Page 13: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Priorities for planning
• Rapidly-urbanizing regions
• Working landscapes• Collaborative
partnerships• Public support• Funding
![Page 14: Road Ecology Wildlife Presentation](https://reader031.fdocuments.in/reader031/viewer/2022020221/568c4a011a28ab491696680e/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Long-term goals• Species recovery• Ecosystem function• Landscape conservation• Compatible land use planning • Statewide resource inventory