Wildlife Movement / Connectivity

Road and highways can have dramatic effects on wildlife movement and landscape connectivity. Some species may have complete aversion to roads, which would limit their movement through landscapes with roads. Other species may try to cross roads even with traffic present resulting in wildlife mortality and risks to drivers. We study the impact of roads on wildlife movement at multiple geographic scales, from individual animals at road crossing structures, to hypothetical movement pathways at the landscape scale. We employ integrated wildlife camera systems and online informatics to collect, manage, and display information about wildlife movement (https://wildlifeobserver.net). We partner with hundreds of volunteers in California and Maine to collect and visualize wildlife observations along roadways (https://www.wildlifecrossing.net). We also use GIS to model potential movement surfaces and pathways, which we test with field information about wildlife presence and movement.