New Resources: Fall Equinox 2011

Road removal paper accepted by journal
A scientific paper written by Wildlands CPR’s Adam Switalski and Assitant Professor and former WCPR board member Cara Nelson has been accepted for publication by the  prestigious journal Biological Conservation. Entitled “Efficacy of road removal for restoring wildlife habitat: Black bear in the Northern Rocky Mountains, USA,” the paper discusses road  removal and its effects on wildlife habitat. It will appear in Volume 144, Issue 11 of the journal, in November 2011. Read Adam's blog post about it here.

Abstract
Forest roads reduce habitat quality for wildlife, in part by increasing susceptibility to hunting and poaching. Road removal is an increasingly common strategy for restoring habitat; however, little is known about responses of wildlife to road removal versus other methods of road closure. We assessed effects of different types of road closure (gated, barriered, and recontoured) on black bear (Ursus americanus) frequency and habitat on 18 open and closed road pairs in the western USA. Over 4 years, 44 bears were photographed during 3545 camera-trap days. Bear frequency was significantly higher (2.4 versus 0.6/100 days, respectively) and human frequency was significantly lower (2.4 versus 361.6/100 days, respectively) on closed than on open roads. Additionally, abundance of fall foods was higher (23.9% and 12.8%, respectively) and line-ofsight (a measure of habitat security) shorter (54.9 versus 69.4m, respectively) on closed compared to open roads. Bears were detected on closed but not on open roads during daytime, suggesting avoidance of humans. Among-road-treatment differences included significantly higher frequency of bears on recontoured than on gated or barriered roads (4.6, 1.6, and 0.5/100 days, respectively), and significantly higher cover of fall bear foods on recontoured than on gated or barriered roads (39.3%, 12.1% and 16.4%, respectively). Frequency of bears was negatively correlated with frequency of humans and line-of-sight distance and positively correlated with abundance of fall foods and hiding cover. Results suggest that while all types of road closure benefit sensitive wildlife, removal by recontour may be the most effective strategy for restoring habitat.

RIPorter contributor unveils website
You might have noticed several photos by Marcel Huijser in this issue of The Road RIPorter. Indeed, Marcel is a regular contributor to the RIPorter, and we are grateful for his seemingly endless supply of powerful images to accompany articles. Marcel has a new web site, featuring “Highways, Wildlife and Mitigation” with thirteen different galleries covering wildlife on roads, roadkill, a variety of mitigation measures, animal detection systems and more. His art also decorates the walls in our office — click on the “Exhibit at Wildlands CPR in
Missoula” or any of his other galleries to get a taste of his artistic work. Visit his new site at www.marcelhuijserphotography. com.