User:AMileAMinute/Wildlife corridor

A long strip of newly planted tree habitat in Brazil.

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A wildlife corridor, also known as a habitat corridor, or green corridor, is an 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 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.

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Purpose

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:

• Colonization: Animals can move and occupy new areas when food sources or other natural resources are scarce in their primary habitat.
• Migration: Species that relocate seasonally can do so more safely and effectively without interference from human development barriers.
• Interbreeding: Animals can find new mates in neighboring regions, increasing genetic diversity.
• Tribes: Indigenous groups use wildlife corridors as an effective management strategy to sustain their physical and spiritual needs.

Monitoring use

An example of a mark-recapture survey on an amphibian.

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.

Evaluation

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.

References

To peer-reviewers! I added the Tribes section near the bottom, linked biologists to the sandbox article, added a citation to the second and fourth sentence. I also changed some of the grammar of the fourth sentence as it did not flow well or make sense. Along with adding the tribe bullet point I attached a citation at the end of the sentence. I also added two sentences at the bottom of the introduction!

Examples

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.

Florida

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 and benefiting vulnerable species like Florida black bears, panthers, and other animals. Starting from the Alabama state line, through the Florida panhandle and all the way to the Florida Keys. Connecting the Osceola National Forest to the Everglades National Park with state parks, 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.

Major wildlife corridors

• The Paséo Pantera (also known as the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor or Paséo del Jaguar)
• The Eastern Himalayan Corridor
• China-Russia Tiger Corridor
• Tandai Tiger Corridor
• The European Green Belt
• The Siju-Rewak Corridor, located in the Garo Hills of India, protects an important population of elephants (thought to be approximately 20% of all the elephants that survive in the country). This corridor project links together the Siju Wildlife Sanctuary and the Rewak Reserve Forest in Meghalaya State, close to the India-Bangladesh border. This area lies within the meeting place of the Himalayan Mountain Range and the Indian Peninsula and contains at least 139 other species of mammals, including tigers, clouded leopards and the Himalayan black bear.
• The Ecologische hoofdstructuur is a network of corridors and habitats created for wildlife in the Netherlands
• The 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) long Kanha-Pench elevated corridor on NH 44.
• Two elephant passes and two minor bridges on NH 54 in Assam’s Lumding Reserve Forest.
• Three elephant underpasses, each with 6 metres (20 ft) of vertical clearance on NH 72 and NH 58 in Uttarakhand, India.
• Terai Arc Landscapes, Lower Himalayan Region.
• The Panther Glades in southern Florida.