A practical guide that explains how we can design roads that are compatible with populations of small wildlife.
Few of us think twice about driving on roads. Yet the very presence of roads and the act of driving on them can impact the ecological infrastructure that supports an animal's daily life. What chance does a turtle have of successfully laying its eggs when it needs to traverse a busy highway? Is it realistic to expect small mammals to breed when an interstate thoroughfare subdivides their population? These are the sorts of challenges faced by small, often slow-moving, animals, challenges that road engineers and ecologists are trying to address.
For countless small species, vehicles traveling at high speeds are nothing less than missiles shooting across migration pathways. For too many animals, the danger can lead to the loss of populations, in part because they simply are not programmed to react to traffic. Salamanders faced with a two-lane road between the forest and their aquatic breeding site, for example, will typically cross that road regardless of the congestion. The result can be hundreds of flattened animals in a single night.
Roads and Ecological Infrastructure is the first book to focus on reducing conflict between roads and small animals. Highlighting habitat connections and the challenges and solutions from both transportation and ecological perspectives, the volume covers various themes, including animal behavior related to roads and design approaches to mitigate the negative effects of roads on wildlife. The chapter authors—from transportation experts to university researchers—each promote a goal of realistic problem solving. Conceptual and practical, this book will influence the next decade or more of road design in ecologically sensitive areas and should prevent countless unnecessary wildlife fatalities.
Published in association with The Wildlife Society.
Table of Contents:
List of Contributors
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. A History of Small Animal Road Ecology
Chapter 2. Natural History and Physiological Characteristics of Small Animals in Relation to Roads
Chapter 3. Direct Effects of Roads on Small Animal Populations
Chapter 4. Road Effects on Habitat Quality for Small Animals
Chapter 5. Engaging the Public in the Transportation Planning Process
Chapter 6. The Current Planning and Design Process
Chapter 7. Sources of Funding
Practical Example 1
Chapter 8. Planning and Designing Mitigation of Road Effects on Small Animals
Chapter 9. Mitigating Road Effects on Small Animals
Chapter 10. Modifying Structures on Existing Roads to Enhance Wildlife Passage
Chapter 11. Construction and Maintenance
Chapter 12. Monitoring Road Effects and Mitigation Measures and Applying Adaptive Management
Practical Example 2
Chapter 13. The Road Ahead
Index
About the Author :
Kimberly M. Andrews is a wildlife researcher and graduate faculty member at the University of Georgia and the research coordinator at the Jekyll Island Authority. Priya Nanjappa is the amphibian and reptile coordinator at the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and a national coordinator for Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. Seth P. D. Riley is a wildlife ecologist for the U.S. National Park Service. He is the coeditor of Urban Carnivores: Ecology, Conflict, and Conservation.
Review :
Road kills seriously affect some animal populations, and this book should be required reading for high school and college students, faculty, and general readers.
—CHOICE Reviews
A primary goal of the editors is to broaden the reader’s view of road impacts on small animals by providing the ecological context within which the public infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc.) functions . . . The book is a call to action for researchers, engineers, landscape planners, and others involved with road ecology to collaborate . . . to reach common goals.
—Herpetological Review
University researchers, government agencies involved in transportation issues, land managers, conservation biologists, and anyone concerned with the losses to herpetofauna and small mammals because of roads will find this volume to be an important and insightful resource.
—Quarterly Review of Biology
This volume, both overall or as standalone chapters, will be of particular interest to a wide audience of engineers, biologists, policy planners, and other scholars in related fields, as well as the general public. It is also recommended for undergraduate teaching, as it will provide students with an understanding of the diverse range of issues relevant to road construction and small animal and habitat conservation . . . What this book has done well is to stress that while there are clear solutions to avoid the road carnage that has resulted in the past where roads and small animals meet, these solutions require coordination and cooperation among a broad range of stakeholders and contributors.
—Christopher Speldewinde, Deakin University, Australia, Human Ecology
