Scientists Seek to Mitigate Ecological Damage From Roads - NYTimes.com - The Diigo Meta page

• 15 Oct 08
  

  border migration science_is_a_method infrastructure development transportation conservation

  • Some experts believe that habitat fragmentation, the slicing and dicing of large landscapes into small pieces with roads, homes and other development, is the biggest of all environmental problems. “By far,” said Dr. Michael Soulé, a retired biologist and founder of the Society for Conservation Biology. “It’s bigger than climate change. While the serious effects from climate change are 30 years away, there’s nothing left to save then if we don’t deal with fragmentation. And the spearhead of fragmentation are roads.”

  • The jury is still out on how well restored connectivity works to keep a diverse gene pool and maintain long-term viability. A study in California, along the 16-lane Santa Monica Freeway (one of the busiest in the country, with 150,000 vehicle trips per day), found that bobcats and coyotes used existing underpasses — not designed for wildlife — to get to the other side. The highway, however, crowded home ranges together; the newcomers were fiercely challenged and did not stay long enough to breed.

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