Vegetated fauna overpass enhances habitat connectivity for forest dwelling herpetofauna

Published source details McGregor M.E., Wilson S.K. & Jones D.N. (2015) Vegetated fauna overpass enhances habitat connectivity for forest dwelling herpetofauna. Global Ecology and Conservation, 4, 221-231.
Share Tweet Email

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Install overpasses over roads/railways Action Link

Install overpasses over roads/railways

A before-and-after, site comparison study in 2005–2010 in eucalypt forest and woodland next to a highway in Queensland, Australia (McGregor et al. 2015) found that a vegetated overpass was colonised by reptile species native to the area. Fourteen of 23 native reptile species found in the area were captured on the vegetated overpass. One non-native reptile species was captured on the overpass but not in adjacent woodland. Capture data over time indicated that the overpass had been colonized at a rate of two species/year. Community composition on the overpass tended to be more similar to woodland on one side of the overpass than the other. A vegetated, fenced overpass was constructed in 2005 and planted with native vegetation sourced from local woodlands. Six woodland sites <1 km from and on both sides of the vegetated overpass were surveyed from June 2005–February 2010 and one site on the overpass was surveyed from February 2006–February 2010. Reptile data were collected from pitfall traps constructed of 15 m drift fences and three 20 L buckets, and hand searches for three days and two nights every two months. Animals were not marked and released immediately after identification.

(Summarised by: Maggie Watson, Katie Sainsbury)