Evaluation of measures to promote desert bighorn sheep highway permeability : U.S. Route 93.

Details

• Creators:
  Gagnon, Jeffrey W. ; Dodd, Norris L. ; Sprague, Scott C. ; Loberger, Chad ; Nelson, Rob ; Boe, Susan ; Schweinsburg, Raymond E.
• Corporate Creators:
  Arizona. Game and Fish Dept. Research Branch
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Wildlife
  • Interstate highways
  • Traffic volume
  • Fences
  • Animal behavior
  • Habitat (Ecology)
  • Wildlife crossings
  • Global Positioning System
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-AZ-14-677
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Arizona
• Corporate Publisher:
  Arizona. Department of Transportation. Research Center
• Abstract:
  This study evaluated desert bighorn sheep–highway relationships from 2008 to 2010 along a 17‐mi stretch of U.S. Route 93 ; (U.S. 93), in northwestern Arizona. Highway reconstruction between mileposts (MP) 2.3 and MP 17.0 was completed in October ; 2010. The research objectives were to: ;  Assess sheep movements, highway crossing patterns, distribution, and determine permeability. ;  Investigate spatial and temporal patterns of sheep highway crossings and relationships to traffic volume. ;  Investigate spatial and temporal sheep‐vehicle collision patterns. ;  Assess the impact of highway reconstruction activities on sheep movements, habitat use, and permeability. ;  Establish baseline data for pre‐ and during‐reconstruction movements, highway crossing and passage rates, and sheepvehicle ; collisions against which to conduct a sound post‐reconstruction assessment. ; Researchers instrumented 38 desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) with GPS collars. Sheep crossed the highway 340 times. ; U.S. 93 constituted a significant barrier to sheep passage, as passage rates averaged just 0.07 crossings/approach. Passage rates ; varied by season, with summer rates higher than winter and spring rates given that sheep exhibited increased tolerance to traffic ; during summer when crossing U.S. 93 in pursuit of water. Sheep exhibited minimal response to consistently high traffic volume ; encountered during the daytime hours when they were predominantly active.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  SPR-000-1(175) 677
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/26912/dot_26912_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.23 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:cbdd8adbdb59e9aca4c7a5b4eb91e6ced649f4df96513391f15fbb5f55c9e09273ade7cdeb204962eeebdaa721898756e0405f5fed21a19f478a5404f311f252