EFFECTS OF LINEAR DEVELOPMENTS ON WINTER MOVEMENTS OF GRAY WOLVES IN THE BOW RIVER VALLEY OF BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA

The security of newly recovered populations of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Canada may be tenuous, because wolf ranges are heavily dissected by linear developments (i.e., highways, secondary roads, railways, and power line corridors). Highway mortality has become a primary cause of wolf mortality and there is accumulating evidence of habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation related to roads. Besides fragmenting and consuming critical habitat, linear developments provide access to remote regions, which allows humans to deliberately, accidentally, or incidentally kill wolves. Linear developments may also be physical and/or psychological impediments to wolf movement. There is a strong relationship between road density and the absence of wolves. In the Bow River Valley of Banff National Park, Alberta wolf populations are being negatively affected by human activities that reduce habitat effectiveness, reduce populations of prey species, obstruct movements, and increase the risk of mortality. Traffic and recreational development will continue to increase within the region, stimulating a demand for additional roads, highways, railways, power line corridors, and increased visitor capacity. Considering the probable threats to wolf survival, we require a better understanding of how movements of wolves are affected by linear infrastructure. This paper reports on the behavioral response of wolves to the Trans Canada Highway, the Canadian Pacific Railway, Highway 1a, and the TransAlta powerline corridor. The authors assess whether wolves are displaced from areas next to these developments, and if these developments are barriers to movements. They also assess the use by wolves of underpasses designed to move wildlife across the Trans Canada Highway safely.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Also published by Florida DOT as a paper in FL-ER-58-96, "Trends in Addressing Transportation Related Wildlife Mortality: Proceedings of the Transportation Related Wildlife Mortality Seminar (June 1996).
• Corporate Authors:

  Florida Department of Transportation

  Haydon Burns Building, 605 Suwanee Street
  Tallahassee, FL  United States  32301

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Paquet, P C
  • Callahan, C
• Conference:
  • Transportation and Wildlife: Reducing Wildlife Mortality and Improving Wildlife Passageways Across Transportation Corridors
  • Location: Orlando, Florida
  • Date: 1996-4-30 to 1996-5-2
• Publication Date: 1996-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 46-66

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Animal behavior; Barriers (Roads); Behavior; Fatalities; Habitat (Ecology); Highways; Railroads; Secondary roads; Transmission lines; Underpasses; Wildlife
• Uncontrolled Terms: Barriers; Degradation; Fragmentation; Mortality; Road density
• Geographic Terms: Banff National Park; Canada
• Old TRIS Terms: Wolves
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Railroads; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00745654
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-PD-96-041
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 30 1998 12:00AM