Roads, roads, and more roads: The plight of animal movement in the Anthropocene
Date: February 22, 2024 at 12 pm PT / 1 pm MT
Presenter: Tracy Lee, M.Sc., Director of Conservation Research, Miistakis Institute
Tracy spends a lot of time trying to figure out how we can better coexist with wildlife and natural systems. Tracy has worked at the Miistakis institute for over 25 years, and during this time has helped develop a road ecology program that encompasses research to identify where wildlife and roads intersect, identifying solutions to reduce road impacts and working to better integrate landscape connectivity into planning and policy. Tracy likes to read about evolution, nature and wildlife.
As geologists debate if we are in a new epoch due to human activity on the planet, the Anthropocene, and biologists consider if we are experiencing the 6th greatest extinction, do we really have time to think about roads and wildlife? Roads are ubiquitous on the landscape, and are essential to human wellbeing, and yet for most other non-human inhabitants on the planet roads are bad news. It is therefore important that we understand how roads impact wildlife, and that we identify solutions to address these impacts if we want to maintain biodiversity.
Tracy will review several road ecology research initiatives lead by the Miistakis Institute to identity where wildlife cross roads, from pronghorn to wood frogs. But knowing where animals cross is only a small component of reducing road impacts – we also need to invest in solutions. Here, we will explore efforts to build social capital around road mitigation, and better integrate road and landscape connectivity concerns into transportation planning and policy.
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