Have you ever wandered where do animals go when a new community development establishes in an area? Did you notice the carcases of rabbits, skunks, squirrels, snakes along the road that you drive on? Why do they need to go to the other side when there is plenty of land on this side? This happens when the core habitat of many species with great diversity become a victim of habitat fragmentation. Animals become separated from their kind by our neighborhoods, roads, shopping centers. Don't get me wrong, I love to take a smooth highway to go shopping and return to my beautiful home. Rabbit has to cross this highway to find food and to breed. He don't know this, but if he stays in the same geographically isolated area, will be limited to small group, and will not be able to genetically interchange his trait to a new generations due to interbreeding. You may now ask:What can we do to help rabbits, skunks, squirrels, snakes and lizards to continue their long-term genetic interchange? One solution is to create a wildlife movement corridor, also called dispersal corridor or landscape linkage (Monica Bond 2003)
Did you know that in a state of Arizona we have numerous species of animals that are on a no open season list?
http://earthsendangered.com/search-regions3.asp?search=1&sgroup=allgroups&ID=20
http://earthsendangered.com/list.asp
How many are not able to cross that road? How about helping a rabbit?
The Habitat
When it come to living environment, wild rabbits have many different areas covered. They set up camp in a broad assortment of habitats, including woodlands, agricultural sites, sand dunes, deserts, mountains, shrub-lands, forests, grasslands, marshes and rainforests. It isn't even uncommon for wild rabbits to occupy the frigid landscapes of tundras. On the whole, rabbits can successfully survive in the majority of climates.
The cottontail rabbits belong to the genus Sylvilagus, which contains
more than 15 different species, nine of which are scattered across North
America, north of Mexico. Most species have the word "cottontail" in
their common name, although exceptions include the marsh rabbit, brush
rabbit and swamp rabbit. Their habitats vary greatly depending on the
regions they live in.Despite the variety of habitats the different species prefer, almost all require dense shrubbery or brush for cover. Most of the species are crepuscular, meaning they actively they forage around dusk and dawn. During the day, they hide under the brush. Food preferences also dictate their habitat: these species primarily feed on different species of grasses, although another favorite food source is vegetable gardens. Wild clovers, fruits and other green plants are also readily devoured.
Wild rabbits are often fond of living on the outskirts of wide and airy spaces. Cottontail rabbits specifically are frequently found in these kinds of habitats. This preferred habitat type results in them living in close proximity to humans in suburban locales, whether in gardens or city parks. This often leads to rabbits developing reputations as nuisances; the furry little guys frequently munch on everything from agricultural crops to plants in backyards. As far as crops go, many rabbits enjoy strawberries, lettuce, peas, carrots, blackberries and beets, for starters.
If you ever see a cute, long-eared creature in a field, don't assume that it's necessarily a rabbit. Hares are near kin to rabbits and are similarly common around the planet. However, there are some key differences between the two groups. Although cottontail rabbits often live on their own, rabbits in general tend to be much more companionable and social than hares. Rabbits frequently reside in sizable social units with many others. Hares, on the other hand, favor solitude in their lifestyles. Another prominent difference is that hares don't spend time in burrows -- a major rabbit pastime. Rabbits are highly turf-oriented critters with sophisticated social systems.
(http://animals.pawnation.com/cottontail-rabbits-habitats-4167.html)
As of today we can identify the need to preserve the structure of animal and plant communities. Habitat fragmentation's affect numerous ecological processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales,including changes in abiotic regimes, shifts in habitat use, altered population dynamics, and changes in species compositions ( Schweiger et at 2000 ). Which bring us to a discussion of importance of wildlife corridors and their design.
As you can see, I am not an artist, but I think, this design will be pleasing to our eyes and not so scary to animals. Which should be like any natural field. Not like some coverts, buried underground.
The corridor should be as wide as possible. It may vary with size and number of species, but the rule of thumb is a minimum of 1000 feet wide.Maintain as much of the natural landscape around the corridor as possible. Reduce human impacts to the corridor (Beier and Loe 1992) Do not allow housing or any other impacts to project in to the corridor to form impediments to movement and increase harmful edge effect. Develop strict lighting restrictions for the houses adjacent to the corridor to prevent light pollution. (Monica Bond 2003 )
We now have to evaluate how the potential corridor will accommodate movement by our rabbit and hopefully many other species will also like this safe passage. We have to include in our planning such an important details as : is there enough food, water, cover for animals to actually enter, follow and reach the end of our corridor. We also must take in to consideration the topography of the location, fencing materials and structure of the fence to isolate the road way to eliminate animal crossing and guide animals to the corridor entrance. All around and on the passage vegetation of native plants must be established. Trees, shrubs and other plants will provide cover, food and will add a benefit for the birds, as a nesting location. Along the highway, signs should be placed to alert drivers approaching this passage about animal crossings above and speed of traffic should be reduced, to minimize noise pollution. .As animals begin to expand their habitat, by using our corridor, they will continue to support biodiversity of this area and provide new generations as their birth rate will be re-stabilized.
Wildlife corridors are not proposed as mitigation for loss of core habitat, they can help reduce the negative effects of habitat fragmentation by allowing dispersal of individuals between large patches of remaining habitat. Monitoring the use of corridors by target wildlife species is an important step in corridor planning, to allow for adoptive management.
REFERENCES:
Monica Bond Center for biological Diversity. Principle of wildlife Corridors , 2003
Schweiger, E.W., J.E. Diffendofer, R. Pierotti, R.D. Holt and M.S. Gains. The interaction of habitat fragmentation, plant, and small mammal succession in an old field. Ecological monographs 70;383-400. 2000
Beiier, P. and S. Loe. A checklist for evaluating impacts to wildlife movement corridors. 1992. Wildlife Society Bulletin 20;434-440
Photo credits:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=x4amhcO-fhjdpM&tbnid=V9z6T83GIkdDEM&ved=0CAcQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmisanthropology101.wordpress.com%2F2013%2F05%2F20%2Fpoetry-in-stillness%2F&ei=OEysU5j3DcGNyASf-YKgDg&psig=AFQjCNEZsOpYk_XoC-Sf1w4UU4gR9eEs_w&ust=1403887032333548
http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=NcBSUOZvuYY5eM&tbnid=3yDFTzaLyuHnBM:&ved=0CAQQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fobrag.org%2F%3Fp%3D23820&ei=fU2sU_2YDdegyASDnYDQCw&bvm=bv.69837884,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNFPyXOh1q2zTQuUjj_6yL1tLKY-Tg&ust=14038873042635orridor or landscape linkages ( Monica Bond 2003)93
http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=LhNEo-YXYJXtMM&tbnid=8NKHzal0-gUlbM:&ved=0CAQQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww3.ag.purdue.edu%2Fentm%2Fwildlifehotline%2Fpages%2Frabbits.aspx&ei=806sU52ZJI-pyATMkYDABw&bvm=bv.69837884,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNGXXk5aDyLYXie6_WO3qnp2vblRmg&ust=1403887611462475 http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=fPSxzIgJZVchZM&tbnid=bKxCMe9t6espGM:&ved=0CAQQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reptilesofaz.org%2FSnakes-Subpages%2Fh-m-euryxanthus.html&ei=K1CsU-6mFcupyASL0IHgCQ&bvm=bv.69837884,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNESnvO-3cek4LEDxZ96p9xnEV3aRg&ust=1403888032405526
http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=G7W_GenBYV8tMM&tbnid=Lvejjn6LkphgaM:&ved=0CAQQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fenvirothink.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F07%2F12%2Fsafety-for-animals-crossing-busy-highways%2F&ei=QlesU9e6JpGGyATdi4GgCg&bvm=bv.69837884,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNHCfzlmZ5j-gtOpEX0rTPFC_B4yaw&ust=1403889787014338
http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=qxnesnwNzsvGbM&tbnid=s78kcOa71UelMM:&ved=0CAQQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fplanetmichigan.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F08%2F08%2Fwildlife-corridors%2F&ei=mlesU4ekA4WnyAT094HwAQ&bvm=bv.69837884,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNHCfzlmZ5j-gtOpEX0rTPFC_B4yaw&ust=1403889787014338
This is my announcement poster:
