Movement of small mammals across divided highways with vegetated medians
Previous studies suggest the gap in forest cover generated by roads contributes to the barrier effect of roads on movement of forest-dwelling small mammals. However, it is not known if vegetated medians of divided highways affect movement of small mammals by reducing the effective highway
width. The purpose of our study was to determine whether the type of vegetation cover in the median (treed or grassy) or median width affects small-mammal crossings of divided highways. At 11 study sites varying in median cover type and width, we live-trapped small mammals next to one side
of the highway and translocated them to the opposite side of the highway using a standardized translocation distance. In total, 24% of translocated individuals were recaptured on the side of the highway of initial capture, i.e., they had moved across the entire highway. This was significantly
lower than what would have been expected in the absence of the highway (58%). The overall probability of recapturing a translocated individual was not significantly related to median cover type or width. Our results suggest that efforts to mitigate the barrier effect of highways on small mammals
cannot be accomplished by altering median vegetation type and width.
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Geomatics and Landscape Ecology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada. 2: Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada.
Publication date: 16 December 2011
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