1. Wildlife passages – How to evaluate their effectiveness?
Edgar van der Grift

2. Worldwide many wildlife passages in all forms/sizes, but….
Dassentunnel

3. …do they work? 7

4. Much baseline information about passage performance available!

6. Many studies about passage use…
Knowledge gab 1
Many studies about passage use…
But little knowledge about passage effectiveness! 7

7. Some studies address effectiveness…
Knowledge gab 2
Some studies address effectiveness…
But in most of them the effectiveness of wildlife passages on population persistence remains unclear! 7

8. Studying use is not useless!
Wildlife passage use
Studying use is not useless!
However:
Use ≠ Effectiveness
Use does not provide evidence for effects of wildlife passages on population persistence ! 7

9. Use ≠ Effectiveness 3 x 1 badger? Research:
3 crossings of badger per time period T
But: what does it mean?
1 x 3 badgers? 7

10. Use ≠ Effectiveness 1 x 3 badgers After road construction:
Before road construction:
3 x 3 badgers
Usually no monitoring “before” ! 7

11. Wildlife passage effectiveness
Definition:
The extent to which the objectives (= desired effect) for a wildlife passage are reached
no objective = no effectiveness
(And: no problem = no objective) 7

12. Setting “SMART” objectives
Objective for each project must be specific to the location, species of concern and nature of the problem
S = Specific What are we going to do?
M = Measurable How much?
A = Acceptable Is there enough support?
R = Realistic Is it possible what we want to do?
T = Time frame When are we finished? 7

13. Does it meet our objectives?7

14. Working out a monitoring approach
What are suitable research species?
What are suitable research sites?
What is the best study design (options)?
Which research methods (surveys/analyses) are most promising?
What measurement schemes should be used?
What are the estimated costs? 7

15. Choose appropriate research species
Species is (highly) vulnerable for road impacts
Proven use of wildlife passages
Road impact is measurable
Species allows for study design with high inferential strength 7

16. Choose appropriate research sites
Species X: not viable viable highly viable
Select locations where wildlife passages are expected to make a large difference (e.g. by modeling population viability)
with infra
without infra

17. Choose appropriate study design: (B)BACI, BA or CI
(Roedenbeck et al., 2007)
Before road Before After
construction mitigation mitigation
Impact
Control 1
Control 2 7

18. Study design in literature review (n=123 studies):
Before-After (BA) comparison approach: n=15
Use of controls in <10 studies
Most studies retrospective: only survey of crossing structures after construction
In practice: trade-offs between perfect study design and reality!
“Before” situation already in the past
No controls, no replication
Randomisation not feasible
Limited budget ….

19. Do not only include the wildlife passage in your study design!
<50% studies in literature review incorporated assessment of presence/abundance target species around wildlife crossing
Not measuring the population adjacent to road may result in wrong conclusions about wildlife passage performance
Example:
Reduction in roadkill does not necessarily mean the crossing structure is effective

20. Importance of population surveys
BEFORE AFTER Effect
Example 1:
Roadkill % ↓
Population size % ↑
Example 2:
Roadkill %
Population size % ↓

29. Relate to abundance of animals in adjacent habitat

30. Select appropriate research methods

31. 7

32. Monitoring!
Photo: Bart Siebelink
Photo: Bart Siebelink 7

33. Review: Tracking pads (n=74) Video / infra-red still cameras (n=36)
Collection/identification scats (n=16)
Direct observations (n=13)
Trapping (n=12)
Collection/identification hair (n=8)
Radio-tracking (n=7)
Trail monitors/wildlife counters (n=6)
Other (including dusting with fluorescent pigment) 7

34. Select appropriate research methods
Go (sometimes) off the beaten track!
Large species over-represented in existing studies, partly because of chosen research methods
New techniques in development: e.g. genetics, PIT tags 7

35. Wildlife overpass “Groene Woud”

36. Dry zone
Wetland zone

38. Distribution amphibians across overpass
Common toad
Common frog
Smooth newt
Crested newt
Green frog
Number of observations
adults/juveniles (n=968)
Wildlife overpass

39. Significant more amphibians in wetland zone
Number of observations

40. Efficiency method “artificial refugia”
Number of observations

42. Crested newts: Belly patterns
Identification of individuals and individual movements across the overpass

43. Crested newts: Belly patterns
Identification of individuals and individual movements across the overpass

44. Appropriate measurement scheme
Appropriate monitoring period
(review: 4 nights – 8 yrs)
Appropriate frequency of measurements within period
(review: 1/day – 1/week)
Appropriate number of impact and control sites
Recommendation: Assessment of measurement scheme on the basis of dynamic population model simulations of monitoring 7

45. Appropriate measurement scheme
Monitoring changes in populations
1 study site
10 study sites
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
Survey: 26 years
Survey: 12 years 7

46. Maximize inferential strength (validity)
= high probability and low uncertainty that research result is true
Dependent on:
Number of competing hypotheses tested
Extent of extrapolation
Study design
Measurement scheme 7

47. Implications
Without studies with high IS it will be difficult to prove the effectiveness of defragmentation programs and to justify investments
Correlation between increasing IS and increasing costs
However: investment in a few good but costly experiments should be prefered above numerous poor experiments at low costs
Experiments with high IS carried out over the relevant temporal and spatial time scales may not be feasible in isolated studies, but may be conducted in collaborative (international) networks of researchers 7

48. Complex problem: time for collaboration...!
This badger gate is for 94.68% effective! 7

49. Questions and discussion
Use ≠ Effectiveness
Questions and discussion 7