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Using Global Positioning System Technology to Determine Wildlife Crossing Structure Placement and Evaluating Their Success in Arizona, USA

Correct placement of wildlife crossing structures (i.e. underpasses and overpasses) is essential to their success in maintaining wildlife permeability across roadways. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology has proven to be an invaluable tool for placing wildlife crossing structures and fences and for evaluating their effectiveness. The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD), Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and various federal land agencies are cooperating to locate passage structures and funnel fencing for wildlife and to evaluate their effectiveness through the use of GPS technology.To date, the authors have fitted >500 animals with GPS collars providing >2,000,000 locations to determine crossing structure and fence placement, during-construction wildlife behavior, and post-construction responses for elk (Cervus elaphus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), American pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), desert bighorn sheep (Ovis Canadensis ), and desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). Wildlife-vehicle collision (WVC) data is also useful for identifying crossing structure locations; however, this method cannot be used for species that avoid crossing roads. For example, declining populations of pronghorn are bisected by US highway 89, but no WVC data exists here for this species (Dodd et al. 2009). Therefore, the authors are using GPS data exclusively to determine where pronghorn approach the highway hopefully indicating where they may use yet to be constructed wildlife crossing structures. To date, the authors have collected >120,000 GPS locations (taken every two hours) to recommend crossing structure placement for this project. A similar “data-driven” approach was used along US 93 to provide recommendations for placement of three desert bighorn sheep overpasses to be completed in 2010 (McKinneyand Smith 2007). WVC data obviously is absent in areas where roadways did not exist, such as realignments or new highways. Therefore, along the proposed US 95 realignment, AGFD is studying pre-construction desert tortoise movements to determine crossing structure placements sufficient to allow tortoise safety and permeability once the highway is built. Although reduction of WVCs is an important measure, WVC reduction alone does not tell the whole story. Promoting wildlife permeability is also important. For instance, along an 8-km stretch of State Route 260, where crossing structure frequencies were 1.1 structure/km, Dodd et al. (2007a) documented a >80% reduction in elk-vehicle collisions following the implementation of funnel fencing linking crossing structures. Here, GPS passage rates showed that permeability did not change following upgrade of the highway. In contrast, elsewhere on SR 260, where crossing structure were spaced 2.4 km apart, WVCs were reduced by >95% following fencing connecting crossing structures. However, permeability dropped by 70%; so although WVC rates declined, the overall effect could not be determined by WVC alone. Pre- and post-construction GPS movement data are needed to show changes in permeability following reconstruction of highways. The authors provide methods and various examples of the use of GPS movement data in Arizona so that highway and wildlife managers alike may be able to use this technology in planning and monitoring their own wildlife-friendly highway projects.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; References;
  • Pagination: pp 452-462
  • Monograph Title: Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET 2009)

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01558824
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 9780977809448
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Mar 31 2015 9:06AM