Identifying Road Segments That Bisect Predicted Movement Corridors for Small Priority Species in Virginia

Details

• Creators:
  Akre, Thomas ; Connette, Grant ; Fergus, Craig ; Luther, David ; Drescher-Lehman, Jonathan ; Donaldson, Bridget M.
• Corporate Creators:
  Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC) ; Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute ; George Mason University
• Corporate Contributors:
  Virginia. Department of Transportation ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Animals Conservation Cooperation Decision Making Endangered Species Habitat Habitat Models Highway Safety Priority Species Recommendations Road Risk Roadside Fauna Small Animals Traffic Barriers Wildlife Corridor Action Plan Wildlife Crossings

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/VTRC 26-R37
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Virginia
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC)
• Abstract:
  The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation in 2020 requiring the preparation of the Virginia Wildlife Corridor Action Plan. It directed the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Virginia Department of Forestry to identify wildlife corridors, identify areas with a high risk of wildlife-vehicle collisions, and recommend wildlife crossing projects intended to promote driver safety and wildlife connectivity. The first version of the Wildlife Corridor Action Plan was released in 2023 and listed several “recommendations for future actions” for its next iteration. Four of these future actions include (1) identifying at-risk terrestrial species, aquatic species, and other species of interest whose corridor needs are not sufficiently addressed by the Wildlife Biodiversity Resilience Corridors; (2) identifying important habitat corridors for these species; (3) identifying Wildlife Crossing Concern Areas (e.g., high-risk road segments) for these at-risk species; and (4) identifying and analyzing non-road human barriers (e.g., land uses) affecting corridor connectivity for the Wildlife Biodiversity Resilience Corridors. The purpose of this study was to advance the objectives of the legislated Wildlife Corridor Action Plan by developing species-specific road risk models and identifying road segments that pose a high risk to small priority species. To identify high-risk road segments, the authors collaborated with 29 species experts to develop maps of “landscape resistance” for 12 state species on the Species of Greatest Conservation Need list. These maps represent how different landscape features are expected to affect species movement—by increasing mortality risk, influencing movement speed, acting as physical barriers, or causing behavioral avoidance. Species-specific connectivity analyses were used to generate maps of predicted movement intensity for each species and to identify areas where roads were expected to cause the greatest reductions in movement.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  125843
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:48db0fe85916cb7f8fd31c58e38d5d4e95ece67f01ef394ed5190b33c841a23f63144cd8e0e3ab676ec3fe60d6b89b99593ae8fe06f9525dab8f88ef82634a4c
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/90262/dot_90262_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.82 MB ]