Wildlife Tunnel Enhances Population Viability

Bibliographic Data

ID4239990
AuthorsRodney Van Der Ree (0000-0002-7594-6015, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), Dean Heinze, Michael A Mccarthy (0000-0003-1039-7980), Michael Mccarthy (0000-0003-3484-8360), Ian Mansergh
Year2009
Volume14
Issue2
Pagesart7
Publication date2009-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueConservation Ecology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1195-5449 • E-ISSN: 1708-3087
PublisherResilience Alliance (PUBLISHER • CA)
DOI10.5751/es-02957-140207
OpenAlexW790621619
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited1

Roads and traffic are pervasive components of landscapes throughout the world: they cause wildlife mortality, disrupt animal movements, and increase the risk of extinction. Expensive engineering solutions, such as overpasses and tunnels, are increasingly being adopted to mitigate these effects. Although some species readily use such structures, their success in preventing population extinction remains unknown. Here, we use population viability modeling to assess the effectiveness of tunnels for the endangered Mountain Pygmy-possum (Burramys parvus) in Australia. The underpasses reduced, but did not completely remove, the negative effects of a road. The expected minimum population size of a "reconnected" population remained 15% lower than that of a comparable "undivided" population. We propose that the extent to which the risk of extinction decreases should be adopted as a measure of effectiveness of mitigation measures and that the use of population modeling become routine in these evaluations

Biology · Endangered species · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Fishery · Geography · Habitat · Population · Population viability analysis · Wildlife · Wildlife conservation · Wildlife corridor · Environmental Science · Rangeland and Wildlife Management · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation · Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation · Ecology

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