Friday, October 17, 2014

Wildlife Corridor Lab




 Proposed Wildlife Corridors over Interstate 40 in Coconino County.

Step 1: The area I choose to design my wildlife corridor is located in Northern AZ in Coconino County. The two habitats that my corridor will be reconnecting is the northern and southern part of Coconino County that is divided by Interstate 40.  Interstate 40 divides the southern area of Coconino County and runs directly through flagstaff causing habitat fragmentation. The spatial area of Coconino County consists of 1.8 million acres and is part of the United States National Forest. The temporal idea of Coconino County was originally established as the “San Francisco Mountains National Reserve”  was later designated a U.S. National forest in 1908 when the reserve merged with land from surrounding forests creating what we know as Coconino County. Coconino County has a diversity of abiotic features like: deserts, ponderosa pine forests, mesas, flatlands, alpine tundra, and ancient volcanic peaks. The edge effect of Interstate 40 is putting many wildlife animals life at risk due to heavy traffic patterns as this one of two Interstates in Arizona, the other being Interstate 10. The topography and elevation ranges anywhere from 2,600 feet to 12,633 feet; the lowest point being the Verde River and the highest point of Humphreys Peak, both which are natural features in that county but one amazing natural feature in that county is Mormon Lake; the largest natural lake in the state of Arizona. Two human imposed features of Coconino County are Lowell Observatory located near Anderson Mesa and at the base of Anderson Mesa are two man made reservoirs that are known as Upper Lake Mary and Lower Lake Mary.

Step 2: Although Coconino County is the home to over a dozen species. The one I choose for my wildlife corridor is Elk or Cervus canadensis, which is largest member of the deer family and one of the largest mammals in North America.  Elk there can weigh up to 1,200 pounds. But normally range anywhere from 600 to 800 lbs.

Step 3: The core habitat of Elk inhabit the forested areas of Coconino County at higher altitudes where there is a good water source that is nearby. They prefer to be at higher elevations anywhere from 7,000 feet to 10,000 feet during the summer months. During the winter however they migrate to lower elevations of Coconino County because the snow forces then to seek lower ground.  Because of Interstate 40 it causes geographic isolation for elk and other wildlife that migrate south during the winter months. Current condition of Interstate 40 is a death zone for elk and people who travel on this roadway. There are many accidents due to Elk crossings and can be fatal for both the travelers and the elk. The corridor would be designed not only for the safety and protection of the species but also the protection of the traveler due to the fact that hitting an elk can cause a fatal accident and does so each year often. Possible future conditions that we face are the increase of population in the flagstaff and surrounding areas and those that travel on Interstate 40. With increased travel there is a higher percentage of accidents due to elk crossing. The corridors along Interstate 40 would lower the chances of accidents and deaths of both travelers and elk.

Step 4: The Corridors would be constructed over designated areas of Interstate 40 in populated areas that elk migrate. Engineers and researchers would practice adaptive management prior to construction. The elks would then be tagged with a GPS monitoring tag that can be tracked on a map that shows frequent areas that they migrate or travel often. The Corridors would be varied widths according to how much each path is travelled and how many elk use that path. The lower number of elks that use any specific path would narrow the corridor. The corridors would range anywhere the width of a two lane road, about 30ft wide, to the middle range width of a six lane highway which can be 90ft wide, to the largest corridor that would be nearly 200ft wide. This is all based of tracking the most used paths of travel. The goal is to make the species comfortable to cross over the corridor without being disturbed by oncoming traffic. The Corridors would be built directly over the Interstate and would allow the elk to travel over the traffic. The corridor would be constructed like any over pass would be except the landscape (dirt, rocks, and plants) would be used in place for the surface covering. There would also be higher edged walls about 6ft -10ft tall to prevent animals from jumping onto the interstate below. The larger corridors would have dim lighting on the underside of it for safety as cars travel through the underpass without causing light pollution in their natural environment.  There would also be a fence that leads up to the entrance/exit of each side of the corridor to lead the animal to the corridor itself and would be connected to existing fences that travel along Interstate 40. The corridors would be maintained if and serviced often to make sure that dirt and vegetation is still present after large storms where any water may wash out dirt and plants. Along the roadside there would be signs installed that warns the driver of any elk crossing and the corridor itself. The speed itself would not be changed due to the fact that many freight trucks travel on this interstate; which would potentially irritate them having to slow down and then try to regain speed, especially at higher elevations.

Step 5: These proposed corridors would allow for geographic isolation and safe travel for the elk population as they migrate to and from the northern and southern regions, in addition to preventing the impediments of a potential decreasing population, promoting population or maintain current population. Maintaining the current population would increase the birth rate of these species by decreasing the loss of elk to which can reproduce, but would have no effect on inbreeding of the species. The mitigation of the corridors would be in the effort to keep the species safer for the species and travelers on Interstate 40 lowering the risk of fatal accidents and death the species. The corridors will accommodate the elk in many ways but the two that would be the most important is that due to the travel patterns researched that the elk travel, the path will seem familiar to them and make it a comfortable area to travel across and because of the wide areas of more traveled areas, the elk would not be too cramped while migrating together.

Step 6: Map of Corridor. The corridors will be designed to match the area it is built. Construction of the corridor will be mostly made from steel and concrete. 



Citation
Design Corridor Render. Digital image. No Title. N.p., n.d. 17 Oct. 2014 Web. <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5fz0ZmhSyMVavU6e472fKYUyG2MQB_PKvNSIaR2fhD0bVuh3U3N1AljISSm-GVy_7tyUhhiOIqI6yN7F1h5cqhSvLGStKvXmyaj3HxE8ewEZwNDUFO4Vsoy7Ej_tpQckwnz1McW9SX95w/s1600/wildlife+corridor+1.png>.
Digital image. Elk Photo. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2014. <http://www.vallescaldera.gov/comevisit/elk/images/elk_running.jpg>.

1 comment:

  1. It sounds like you might have some experience with these animals. Your brief history of Coconino County is interesting. The "peaks" areas is very special. I think it would be wonderful if corridors would be included in every road plan. I know the City of Flagstaff is getting some corridors in line for use.

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