Wildlife crossing structures – underpasses and overpasses – have been constructed around the world and are used by many species of wildlife to safely cross roads and other linear infrastructures. However, there is still much to learn about their effectiveness at contributing to the preservation of biodiversity. How many and what kinds of structures do we need to reach the goals of mitigation? Without clear insights into the effectiveness of wildlife crossing structures, we run the risk of losing wildlife populations (or even species) and wasting money. The evaluation of the effectiveness of mitigation requires a good experimental design and should be incorporated into road planning.
Identify and describe the target species and goals of mitigation.
Monitor target species that are likely to demonstrate statistically significant effects with comparatively little sampling effort in space and/or time.
Select parameters of interest that are most closely related to the outcome of real concern.
Adopt a study design that allows for rigorous conclusions.
Use model simulations to determine the best sampling scheme.
Select mitigation sites to be monitored based on the objective(s) of the evaluation.
Choose control sites based on the goals of mitigation.
Measure explanatory variables that provide the best possible estimates of mitigation effectiveness.
Utilise survey methods that monitor multiple species simultaneously.
Ensure that the evaluation of mitigation has sufficient resources, is integrated into the planning and construction of roads and is coordinated across boundaries.
A comprehensive evaluation of the extent to which road mitigation measures reduce the risk of decline and extinction of wildlife populations is essential to ensure that conservation funds are being allocated in the most cost‐effective manner. Researchers need to be involved in the design of the evaluation programmes from the earliest stages of the road construction or road mitigation project. Although the set of guidelines presented here is ambitious, we are convinced that they are necessary to improve our understanding of the effectiveness of road mitigation measures.
This chapter is a summary of a paper published in Biodiversity and Conservation (van der Grift et al. ), in which more details on these guidelines are presented.
Guidelines for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Road Mitigation Measures
Handbook of Road Ecology ; 129-137
2015-04-01
9 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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