The effectiveness of wildlife crossing structures for black bears in Madison County, North Carolina.

Details

• Creators:
  Jones, Elizabeth R. ; Lancia, Richard ; Doerr, Phil
• Corporate Creators:
  North Carolina State University
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Black Bear--North Carolina--Madison County Wildlife Crossings Wildlife Crossings--North Carolina--Madison County
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/NC/2006-62
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  North Carolina
• Edition:
  Final report; June 2005-July 2007.
• Corporate Publisher:
  North Carolina. Department of Transportation. Research and Analysis Group
• Abstract:
  Roads have become an integral part of our society, but recently society has begun to realize the ecological impact that
  
  roads have on their surroundings. One major effect that roads have on large mammals is creating a barrier to movement of
  
  individuals both between and within populations. In an effort to alleviate this problem on a new interstate project, the North
  
  Carolina Department of Transportation constructed 2 8 x 8 feet (2.4 x 2.4 m) concrete box culverts on I-26 in Madison County,
  
  North Carolina, intended for use by North American black bears (Ursus americanus). Black bears have been observed using a
  
  variety of crossing structures, and it is not known what type of design best suits their needs. To determine the effectiveness of
  
  these crossing structures, each culvert’s wildlife activity was recorded by Cuddeback digital still cameras. In addition, digital
  
  video data were captured at one of the culverts and sampled to detect wildlife use of the culvert. From these data, detection
  
  probabilities and an overall estimate of wildlife use were calculated. Wildlife crossings at other structures along the roadway
  
  were also recorded, specifically at culverts built to carry streams under the interstate. Also, still cameras were installed at a few
  
  likely crossing locations along the roadway in an attempt to capture black bear presence adjacent to the roadway. Lastly, local
  
  residents were solicited for their crossing observations.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:ad7f10aff1c7c360331d8c1a0132e92139059b89a3ae1f1131f132ba4a1ef81f
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/21345/dot_21345_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 917.17 KB ]