SR 200 Wildlife Impact Study

Ross Prairie is a 6,500 ha reserve that serves as an important habitat node in the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross-Florida Greenway. This diverse ecosystem is a mosaic of many habitat types including bottomland hardwood swamps, pine flatwoods, wet prairies and longleaf pine-wiregrass sandhills. Wildlife includes many rare and listed species including the eastern indigo snake, gopher tortoise, Florida scrub jay, Florida mouse and Florida gopher frog. SR 200 is a major two-lane state highway that bisects the reserve. Average annual daily traffic level is about 11,000 vehicles. Rapid growth and development in Marion County have recently necessitated the need to widen the road to four lanes. A comprehensive approach that employed several methods was used to determine the current and potential impacts of SR 200 on wildlife resources in the Ross Prairie conservation area in Marion County, Florida. These methods included road-kill and track surveys, mark-recapture and telemetry studies, and geographic information system (GIS) analysis. Each method was used to evaluate road impacts on different taxa. This multi-species approach was used to determine effects of the road on presence and movement behavior for suites of wildlife (e.g., primarily carnivores, selected herptiles, and small mammals). This report contains the results of this study. In conclusion, to improve habitat connectivity and eliminate road mortality, the authors propose a system of culverts, bridges and barrier fences that will increase permeability of the road for a diverse assemblage of wildlife in the area. They recommend installing four box culverts in the upland sandhill areas, bridges at each ecotone between the wetland basin and adjacent uplands, a series of five culverts within the basin adjoined by a herptile exclusion wall, and an equestrian underpass across from the trailhead. Between all these structures should be 2 m barrier fencing with herptile excluding mesh at the base of the fence.

• Record URL:
  • https://fdotwww.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/research/reports/fdot-bc354-74rpt.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This research was also supported by the following contracts: Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Greenways and Trails, Contract No. GM 114; and Southwest Florida Water Management District, Contract No. 03CON000078.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Florida, Gainesville

  Department of Urban and Regional Planning, P.O. Box 115706
  Gainesville, FL  United States  32611-5706

  Florida Department of Transportation

  605 Suwannee Street
  Tallahassee, FL  United States  32399-0450
• Authors:
  • Smith, Daniel J
  • Voigt, Maena
• Publication Date: 2005-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 236p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridges; Connectivity; Culverts; Ecosystems; Endangered species; Environmental impact analysis; Fences; Geographic information systems; Grasslands; Habitat; Recommendations; Road kill; State highways; Surveys; Telemetry; Underpasses; Wildlife; Wire mesh
• Uncontrolled Terms: Barrier walls; Highway widening
• Geographic Terms: Marion County (Florida)
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Environment; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Research; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01003746
• Record Type: Publication
• Contract Numbers: BC354-74
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Sep 2 2005 4:09PM