Wildlife corridor

A wildlife corridor, also known as a habitat corridor, or green corridor, is a designated area that connects wildlife populations that have been separated by human activities or structures, such as development, roads, or land clearings. These corridors enable movement of individuals between populations, which helps to prevent negative effects of inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity, often caused by genetic drift, that can occur in isolated populations. Additionally, corridors support the re-establishment of populations that may have been reduced or wiped out due to random events like fires or disease. They can also mitigate some of the severe impacts of habitat fragmentation, a result of urbanization that divides habitat areas and restricts animal movement. Habitat fragmentation from human development poses an increasing threat to biodiversity, and habitat corridors help to reduce its harmful effects. Corridors aside from their benefit to vulnerable wildlife populations can conflict with communities surrounding them when human-wildlife conflicts are involved. In other communities the benefits of wildlife corridors to wildlife conservation are used and managed by indigenous communities.
Habitat corridors can be considered a management tool in areas where the destruction of a natural habitats has severely impacted native species, whether due to human development or natural disasters. When land is fragmented, wildlife populations may become unstable or isolated from larger populations. These management tools are used by ecologists, biologists, indigenous tribes, and other concerned parties that oversee wildlife populations. Corridors help reconnect these fragmented populations and reduce negative population fluctuations by supporting these key aspects that stabilize populations:
Daniel Rosenberg et al. were among the first to define the concept of wildlife corridors, developing a model that emphasized the corridors' role in facilitating movement unrestricted by the end of native vegetation or intermediate target patches of habitat.
Wildlife corridors also have significant indirect effects on plant populations by increasing pollen and seed dispersal through animals movement, of various species between isolated habitat patches. Corridors must be large enough to support minimum critical populations, reduce migration barriers, and maximize connectivity between populations.
Wildlife corridors may also include aquatic habitats often referred to as riparian ribbons, and are typically found in the form of rivers and streams. Terrestrial corridors take the form of wooded strips connecting forested areas or an urban hedgerows.
Wildlife corridors can connect into federal, state, private, and tribal land which can influence the opposition or acceptance of including wildlife corridors. The development of man made structures and expansion into natural areas can have an impact on both human and wildlife. Although expressions such as "freedom to roam" promote the idea of wildlife freely moving throughout natural landscapes, this same ideology does not apply to indigenous peoples. The theoretical ideas of landscape connectivity present them in a purely scientific and non-political manner that fails to account for political factors that can impact success within wildlife corridors and restorative ecological practices. Attempts to restore habitat over time require support from the local communities that surround the habitat area, oftentimes these communities are indigenous, that a restoration project is being placed around.
Indigenous knowledge of ecological landscape features across history is usually substituted with European explorers' of landscape ecology recollections when developing widescale corridor plans and within the broader ecological field. As such there is a distinction in the use of ecological and indigenous knowledge when taking into account where wildlife populations are found, species composition within a community, and even seasonal patterns lengths and changes. Widespread efforts that actively involve the input of a variety of political and environmental groups are not always used in ecological restoration efforts. Currently there are some collaborations ongoing between indigenous groups surrounding wildlife corridor habitat such as the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative which promote the conversion of previously stolen land into indigenously managed land. The concern regarding land once used and lived upon by indigenous people, which now makes up habitat within wildlife corridors, and developed land that corridors cut across contribute to the Land Back movement.
Managing both terrestrial and aquatic lands can have a positive economic impact on Indigenous groups that continue to rely on wildlife populations for cultural practices, fishing, hunting, etc. in a variety of natural landscapes. Indigenous groups face financial inequities despite the large benefits of conservation efforts; this if the result of a lack of consideration placed on how wildlife corridors can impact local communities. The overlap of wildlife, specifically larger predator species, poses a physical danger to local communities. Economic revenue for local groups nearby or within heavily forested areas poses a threat to human property, crops, and livestock with higher chances of wildlife encounters; fisheries can also be negatively impacted by wilderness areas. Many indigenous tribes manage wildlife populations within tribal lands that are legally recognized by governments, yet these tribes lack the finances to effectively manage large swathes of habitat. The Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act would allow indigenous groups across the U.S. to implement wildlife corridors with both the finances and cooperation of neighboring governmental allies to help manage tribal lands.
Most species can be categorized into one of two groups: passage users and corridor dwellers.
Passage users occupy corridors for brief periods. These animals use corridors for such events as seasonal migration, juvenile dispersal or moving between different parts of a large home range. Large herbivores, medium to large carnivores, and migratory species are typical passage users.
Corridor dwellers, on the other hand, can occupy a corridor for several years. Species such as plants, reptiles, amphibians, birds, insects, and small mammals may spend their entire lives in linear habitats. In such cases, the corridor must provide enough resources to support such species.
Habitat corridors can be categorized based on their width, with wider corridors generally supporting greater wildlife use. However, the overall effectiveness of a corridor depends more on its design that its width. The following are three main categories of corridor widths:
Habitat corridors can also be classified based on their continuity. Continuous corridors are uninterrupted strips of habitat, while "stepping stone" corridors consist of small, separate patches of suitable habitat. However, stepping-stone corridors are more vulnerable to edge effects, which can reduce their effectiveness.
Corridors can also take the form of wildlife crossings, such an underpasses or overpasses that allow animals to cross man-made structures like roads, helping to reduce human-wildlife conflict, such as roadkill. Observations that underpasses tend to be more than overpasses as many animals are too timid to cross over a bridge in front of traffic and prefer the cover of an underpass.
Researchers use mark-recapture techniques and hair snares to assess genetic flow and observe how wildlife utilizes corridors. Marking and recapturing animals helps track individual movement.
Genetic testing is also used to evaluate migration and mating patterns. By analyzing gene flow within a population, researchers can better understand the long- term role of corridors in migration and genetic diversity.
Wildlife corridors are most effective when designed with the ecology of their target species in mind. Factors such as seasonal movement, avoidance behavior, dispersal patterns, and specific habitat requirements must also be considered.
Corridors are more successful when they include some degree of randomness or asymmetry and are oriented perpendicular to habitat patches. However, they are vulnerable to edge effects; habitat quality along the edge of a habitat fragment is often much lower than in core habitat areas.
While wildlife corridors are essential for large species that require expensive ranges; they are also crucial for smaller animals and plants, acting as ecological connectors to move between isolated habitat fragments. Additionally wildlife corridors are designed to reduce human-wildlife conflicts.
In Alberta, Canada, overpasses have been constructed to keep animals off the Trans-Canada Highway, which passes through Banff National Park. The tops of the bridges are planted with trees and native grasses, with fences present on either side to help guide animals.
In Southern California, 15 underpasses and drainage culverts were observed to see how many animals used them as corridors. They proved to be especially effective on wide-ranging species such as carnivores, mule deer, small mammals, and reptiles, even though the corridors were not intended specifically for animals. Researchers also learned that factors such as surrounding habitat, underpass dimensions, and human activity played a role in the frequency of usage.
In South Carolina, five remnant areas of land were monitored; one was put in the center with the other four surrounding it. Then, a corridor was put between one of the remnants and the center. Butterflies that were placed in the center habitat were two to four times more likely to move to the connected remnant rather than the disconnected ones. Furthermore, male holly plants were placed in the center region, and female holly plants in the connected region increased by 70 percent in seed production compared to those plants in the disconnected region. Plant seed dispersal through bird droppings was noted to be the dispersal method with the largest increase within the corridor-connected patch of land.
In Florida June 2021, the Florida Wildlife Corridor act was passed, securing a statewide network of nearly 18 million acres of connected ecosystems. Starting from the Alabama state line, through the Florida panhandle and all the way to the Florida Keys. Containing state parks, national forests, and wildlife management areas supporting wildlife and human occupation.
The positive effects on the rates of transfer and interbreeding in vole populations. A control population in which voles were confined to their core habitat with no corridor was compared to a treatment population in their core habitat with passages that they use to move to other regions. Females typically stayed and mated within their founder population, but the rate of transfer through corridors in the males was very high.
In 2001, a wolf corridor was restored through a golf course in Jasper National Park, Alberta, which successfully altered wildlife behavior and showed frequent use by the wolf population.
Some species are more likely to utilize habitat corridors depending on migration and mating patterns, making it essential that corridor design is targeted towards a specific species.
Due to space constraints, buffers are not usually implemented. Without a buffer zone, corridors can become affected by disturbances from human land use change. There is a possibility that corridors could aid in the spread of invasive species, threatening native populations.