OOS 25 - Effects and Cost-Effectiveness of Measures That Aim to Mitigate Road Impacts on Biodiversity

Organizer(s)

• Ev

  Edgar van der Grift

  Senior-researcher
  Wageningen University & Research
  Wageningen, Netherlands

The impacts of roads on biodiversity are numerous. Besides the loss, degradation and fragmentation of wildlife habitats, roads cause wildlife mortality due to animal-vehicle collisions. Such impacts may affect the size of wildlife populations and their survival. Currently, in countries across the globe, more and more measures are taken to prevent or mitigate such impacts. For example, wildlife crossing structures are constructed to help animals safely across roads, wildlife fences are build to keep animals off the road and guide them towards over- and underpasses, and habitat is restored on- or offsite to compensate for lost or degraded habitat. Testing the effectiveness of these measures is essential to determine effect size and help assess whether pre-set goals for road mitigation have been met. These tests may identify weaknesses in applied measures and help develop improved versions. They also allow for objective comparisons of cost-effectiveness of different types of measures, upon which, science-based decisions on future road mitigation projects can be made.
In this session, we present the outcome of a variety of studies in which road mitigation measures were tested. The focus is on the effects of measures to counteract road impacts as well as the cost-effectiveness of the measures. In the first part of the session, we will present the findings of three effect studies, i.e., the testing of the impermeability of a wildlife fence, specifically designed for arboreal mammals, using martens in captivity as test animals (speaker 1), testing tunnels and fences designed for amphibians, including tree frogs, in reducing road mortality (speaker 2), and a four year experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of the replacement of natural tree hollows, which had been removed due to road construction, to mitigate the impacts of habitat loss on endangered wildlife (speaker 3). In the second part of the session, we will present the findings of three cost-effectiveness studies, i.e., the development of a method that help quantifying costs and cost-effectiveness of road mitigation measures with the aim to improve decision-making in road ecology (speaker 4), the cost-effectiveness of wildlife under- and overpasses in combination with wildlife fencing and consequences for future road construction (speaker 5), and a comparison of the cost-effectiveness of different types of crossing structures, including at-grade crossings, wildlife overpasses and underpass culverts (speaker 6).

Presentations:

• 1:30 PM – 1:45 PM PDT

  Testing the effectiveness of wildlife fences for arboreal mammals
  

  Presenting Author: Edgar A. van der Grift – Wageningen University & Research

  Co-author: Hugh Jansman – Wageningen University & Research

  Co-author: Nina Villing – Wageningen University & Research

  Co-author: Margreet Laar – Wageningen University & Research
• 1:45 PM – 2:00 PM PDT

  Effectiveness of fences in reducing road mortality of ground-dwelling anurans and tree frogs in a Brazilian reserve
  

  Presenting Author: Fernanda Zimmermann Teixeira – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

  Co-author: Andreas Kindel – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

  Co-author: Dener Heiermann – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

  Co-author: Samuel Gohlke – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

  Co-author: Rodrigo Becker – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

  Co-author: Priscila Barth – Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos

  Co-author: Maria Eduarda Bernardino Cunha – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

  Co-author: Patrick Colombo – Museu de Ciências Naturais, SEMA-RS

  Co-author: Talita Menger – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

  Co-author: Steve Béga – Animex International

  Co-author: Dean Swensson – Animex International

  Co-author: Caroline Zank – Biolaw Consultoria Ambiental
• 2:00 PM – 2:15 PM PDT

  Testing the effectiveness of a habitat replacement program as a condition of approval of a road construction project
  

  Presenting Author: Rodney van der Ree – WSP Australia Pty Limited

  Co-author: Imogen Merlo – WSP Australia Pty Ltd

  Co-author: Danelle Scicluna – WSP Australia Pty Ltd
• 2:15 PM – 2:30 PM PDT

  Quantifying costs and cost-effectiveness to support decision-making in road ecology
  

  Presenting Author: Silviu Petrovan – University of Cambridge

  Co-author: Thomas White – University of Cambridge
• 2:30 PM – 2:45 PM PDT

  Cost-benefit analyses for wildlife mitigation measures along highways
  

  Presenting Author: Marcel Huijser – Western Transportation Institute - Montana State University

  Co-author: John W. Duffield – Bioeconomics

  Co-author: Chris Neher – Bioeconomics

  Co-author: Anthony P. Clevenger – Western Transportation Institute - Montana State University

  Co-author: Terry McGuire – McGuire Consulting
• 2:45 PM – 3:00 PM PDT

  Comparison of cost-effectiveness of different types of wildlife crossing structures
  

  Presenting Author: Manisha Bhardwaj, PhD – Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Management, University of Freiburg

  Co-author: Steve Béga – Animex International

  Co-author: Wendy Collinson – The Endangered Wildlife Trust, Wierda Park, Gauteng Province, South Africa / SARChI Chair on Biodiversity Value and Change, School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, Limpopo Province, South Africa

  Co-author: Hannah de Villiers – 5. The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa

  Co-author: Marcel Huijser – Western Transportation Institute - Montana State University

  Co-author: Darrelle Moffat – Animex International, Fareham, Hampshire, UK

  Co-author: Mattias Olsson – EnviroPlanning AB, Gothenburg, Västra Götaland County, Sweden

  Co-author: Rodney van der Ree – WSP Australia Pty Limited