Icon Legend

This session is not in your schedule.

This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.

149 Views

Inspire Session

Hybrid Session

Session: : Navigating Challenges and Opportunities in Fence Ecology and Management

INS 1-7 - Barrier removal facilitates migratory resource tracking in a human-altered landscape: a case-study in Wyoming

Monday, August 7, 2023

1:30 PM – 3:00 PM PDT

Location: 251

Presenting Author(s)

LW

Luke R. Wilde, MSc

PhD Student
Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming, United States

Co-author(s)

AO

Anna C. Ortega, PhD

Research Scientist
Western Wildlife Research Collective; Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming, United States
JM

Jerod A. Merkle, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming, United States
KM

Kevin L. Monteith, PhD

Assistant Professor
Haub School, University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming, United States
HS

Hall Sawyer, PhD

Research Scientist
Western Ecosystems Technology, Wyoming, United States
MK

Matthew J. Kauffman, PhD

Unit Leader, Assistant Professor
U.S. Geological Survey
Laramie, Wyoming, United States

Barriers reduce connectivity and disrupt animal movement. Most studies evaluate existing barriers, so that barrier impacts are unclear. Using 10-years of movement data (2011-2021) from migratory mule deer in Wyoming, we quantified how fence removal at a narrow bottleneck impacted the functional attributes of migration in a before-after design. We found that deer (n=96) moved 28% faster through the bottleneck and surfed 4 days closer to peak green-up after fence removal. Study findings provide a rare quantification of how barriers reduce the functionality of corridors. Barrier removal will be key to maintaining the functionality of migration corridors in working landscapes.