PARENT SESSION
Organized Oral Session 10: Reducing habitat fragmentation by roads: A comparison of measures and scales
Organizer(s): JAG Jaeger, L Fahrig, and W Haber
Monday, August 8, 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM, Meeting Room 511 B, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal
The Missing Linkages Project: Restoring wildland connectivity to southern California.
Beier, Paul*,1, Penrod, Kristeen2, Luke, Claudia3, Spencer, Wayne4, Cabañero, Clint2, 1 Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA2 South Coast Wildlands, Idyllwild, California, USA3 San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA4 Conservation Biology Institute, San Diego, California, USA
ABSTRACT- In Fall 2001, the ground-breaking Missing Linkages report identified 232 wildlife linkages in California. South Coast Wildlands immediately spearheaded an effort to prioritize, protect, and restore linkages in the South Coast Ecoregion. We first forged a partnership with 15 federal and state agencies, conservation NGOs, universities, county planners, and transportation agencies. By partnering from the start (rather than developing a plan on our own and asking others to "unite under us"), we garnered spectacular support and are making rapid progress. With our partners, we (1) selected 15 priority linkages (out of 69 linkages in the ecoregion) on the basis of biological importance (size & quality of core areas served) and vulnerability; (2) held workshops to identify 12 to 20 focal species per linkage; (3) researched the needs of focal species, obtained high-resolution spatial data, conducted GIS analyses, and collected field data to develop a linkage design; and (4) presented the design to partners who are now procuring easements and land, changing zoning, restoring habitat, and mitigating transportation projects. Our collaborative, science-based approach provides a template for creating a green infrastructure in even the most human-dominated landscapes. A more recent effort in Arizona is being led by state and federal transportation agencies. These efforts promise not to merely slow down the rate at which things get worse, but rather to create projects that will improve connectivity for wildlife.
Key words: corridors, wildlife linkages, reserve design, habitat fragmentation by roads