Roads and traffic negatively impact many wildlifepopulations because they increase wildlife mortality, arebarriers to animal movement and reduce the amount andquality of available habitat. There is increasing concernabout the reduction in connectivity for wildlife acrossroads. If efforts are not made to reduce these effectsthere could be severe consequences for ecologicalprocesses and wildlife populations, such as highermortality, higher vulnerability of the populations,unbalanced sex ratios, lower reproduction rates, reducedgene low, loss of biodiversity, and shifts in community

Monitoring the use and effectiveness of wildlife passages for small and medium-sized mammals along Highway 175:

Main results and recommendations

• During the widening of Highway 175 between Québec City and Saguenay from two to four lanes (in 2006 -2011), 33 wildlife underpasses for medium-sized and small mammals were constructed along the highway between km 60 and km 144.

• They are among the first designated wildlife passages for medium-sized and small mammals in the province of Québec.

• About two thirds (133 km) of the total length of HWY 175 between Quebec and Saguenay (210 km) traverse the Réserve Faunique des Laurentides(RFL). Large parts of the road are directly adjacent to the Parc National de la Jacques-Cartier (PNJC).

• Exclusion fences for medium-sized mammals were placed on both sides of each passage entrance. They are about 100 m long on either side, 90 cm high with a 6 cm x 6 cm mesh size.

Jochen Jaeger, Ariel Spanowicz, Jeff Bowman, Anthony Clevenger

No 8 – December 2017

- NewsBulletin-

1Photos: Concordia University

composition (van der Ree et al. 2015). Many effects havea response delay, i.e., they become visible only aftersome time (several years or several decades). Mitigationmeasures are measures taken to alleviate, at least tosome degree, these negative impacts.

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Objective 1: Road Mortality

Relevant species characteristics Effects of roads and/or traffic

Road mortality

Habitat loss and reduced habitat quality

Habitat fragmentation and reduced connectivity

Life history variables:

Low reproductive rate x x x

Long generation time (lifespan) x x x

High intrinsic mobility x

Large area requirements and low natural density x x x

Large body size x x x

Multiple resource needs x x

Behavioral responses to roads:

Attraction to roads x

Road surface avoidance x

No vehicle avoidance xTraffic disturbance avoidance x x

No road or traffic disturbance avoidance x

• Road mortality surveys were done to evaluate by how much the wildlife passageways (combined with fences formedium-sized fauna) reduce the traffic mortality of medium-sized and small mammals.

• In every 2-week session, the researchers searched for roadkill or injured animals three days in the evenings(before sunset), followed by one day without a survey, and six days in the early mornings (just after sunrise).§ This procedure was performed in four summers (June - September from 2012-2015).§ A total of 306 road mortality surveys were performed.

• During four summers, 893 carcasses were detected comprising 13 different species or taxonomic groups.Porcupines were found most often, followed by red foxes, woodchucks, striped skunks, and snowshoe hares.

• The presence of shrubby vegetation in the median strip separating the two directions of the highway andproximity of the forest to the highway increased the number of road-kill for medium-sized mammals (> 1 kg).

• None of the species were identified as at-risk, endangered or threatened.§ More mobile species are more negatively affected by road mortality than less mobile species because

they interact with roads more often.§ Species with lower reproductive rates and longer generation times are more susceptible to road effects

because they are less able to rebound from population declines resulting from road mortality.

Table 1: Characteristics (species traits and behavioral responses) that influence the vulnerability of species to the impactsof roads and traffic. (Source: Rytwinski and Fahrig 2015, modified)

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Overall performance of the types of wildlife passages: The pipe culverts and wooden ledge culverts are more effective than the concrete ledge culverts.

Figure 7: Number of complete crossings observed at each wildlifepassage by species (without woodchuck and micromammals; orderedby body mass).

0

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Eastern chipmunk

Weasel spp.

Red squirrel

Am. mink

Common muskrat

Snowshoe hare

Striped skunk

Red fox

North Am. porcupine

River otter

Raccoon

North Am. beaver

Species Effectivenessofthreetypesofwildlifepassage

PC WLC CLC

NorthAm.beaver

* ** *

Canadalynx – – –Raccoon ** * *Riverotter * – –NorthAm.porcupine

* – *

Redfox ** – *Fisher – – –Woodchuck *** *** *Stripedskunk *** – *Snowshoehare * – –Common muskrat

** * –

Am.marten – – –Am.mink *** *** ***Redsquirrel *** ** *Weaselspp. *** ** **Northernflyingsquirrel

– – –

Easternchipmunk

** ** *

Micromammals *** * *Overalleffectiveness(onascaleof0to10)

5.8 3.3 2.7

Table 3: Overall effectiveness of threetypes of wildlife passages along HWY 175,based on the data observed in 2012-2015(– = not effective, * = slightly effective, ** =satisfying or good, *** = very good). Thespecies are ordered by decreasing bodymass (largest to smallest). Passage typeCWWC was not included because of lowsample size (n = 1).

The pipe culverts (PC) are generallythe most effective.

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Recommendations

10

Based on the results, we provide 16recommendations, 9 of which relate to possibleimprovements of road mitigation measures and 7relate to monitoring and research. Some of theminclude (for the complete list see the final report):

A" B"

C" D"Photo 8: American marten using a regulardrainage culvert along HWY 381.

Photo: Concordia University

• Use of a variety of types of wildlife passagesand exploration of some new passage types forporcupines, red foxes, river otters, snowshoehares, American martens, fishers and Canadalynx is recommended.

• Box culverts with a concrete ledge seem to beless effective than the pipe culverts and boxculverts with a wooden ledge. For example, theaverage number of complete crossings perpassageway was 183.3 individuals for PC-typepassages, followed by 139.5 individuals forWLC-type passages, and the lowest wasrecorded for CLC-type passages with 27.6individuals. Adding sheets of wood onto theconcrete surface of their ledges could improvetheir performance.

• Passageways should preferably be constructedwithout an opening in the median.

• Increasing the vegetation cover between theforest and the entrances of the passageways isrecommended, while forest removal should beavoided in the sections in which wildlifepassages will be installed.

• Addition of wildlife passages (with fences) atmortality hotspots and at locations wherevegetation is close to the road should beconsidered, e.g., when a regular drainageculverts is repaired or replaced, this is a goodopportunity for transforming it into a wildlifepassage.

• We recommend establishing norms andstandards for road mitigation in Quebec.

• Good maintenance of the current fences isrecommended.

• New wildlife passages should be combined withfences much longer than 100 m on either side.

• Fencing of road sections with mortality hotspotsand the extension of existing fences to the nextdrainage culverts should be considered.

• Improvements in fence design would be useful,e.g., to address the fence-end effect.

• A study about the influence of the length of thefences on mortality at fence-ends would bedesirable. Fences should be long enough thatthe increased road-kill numbers at the fence-ends (due to the displacement of crossingattempts of the animals) are compensated bysufficiently long fenced sections of the road inwhich road-kill numbers are low.

• Continued monitoring of the use of the existingwildlife passages can determine if more specieshabituate to the passages.

• Monitoring of the use of regular drainageculverts would be highly useful to determine ifthey could perhaps be as effective as wildlifepassages if some fencing for medium-sizedfauna were added.

Making good use of the large research potential ofHWY 175 can make an important contribution toimproved knowledge about the effectiveness ofroad mitigation. HWY 175 is particularly suitable forsuch research for several reasons, e.g., our studyprovides 4 years of baseline data about small andmedium-sized mammals, which is a rareopportunity, and because the high numbers ofanimals being killed on HWY 175 result in largersample sizes and in faster detection of the wildliferesponses to modifications to the mitigationmeasures than in areas with lower wildlife mortality.

Conclusion

11

The implementation of 33 wildlife passages for smalland medium-sized fauna along HWY 175 representsan important step in the right direction. The results ofthis study demonstrate a major success for theexisting wildlife passages along HWY 175.

Driver safety is also an important consideration forsmall and medium-sized mammals. Estimates ofhuman injuries and vehicle damages from accidentswith small animals have recently become available inMaine: The Maine Department of Transportationreported 621 crashes involving animals other thandeer, moose, bear and turkey between 2010 and2014. The economic loss of those crashes wasestimated at $ 7.4 million. Thirteen of those crashesresulted in an incapacitating injury and 25 in a non-incapacitating injury (Maine is 7% the size of Quebecand has only 1.33 million inhabitants).

Road mitigation is also a matter of halting biodiversitydecline (as required by the internationally definedAichi biodiversity targets set by the Convention onBiological Diversity, CBD) and of ensuring long-termmaintenance of ecosystem services. Measures forroad mitigation can be implemented effectively only ifthere is an awareness of the issue. Decision-makersand the general public alike should, therefore, bemade more aware of the short-term and long-termecological effects of roads and need to be informedabout suitable mitigation measures.

Many road agencies have “environmentalsustainability” as one of their goals and the only wayto achieve such goal is to establish collaborative linksbetween transportation agencies and ecologists andto support long-term and credible scientific research(van der Ree et al. 2011).

More information can be found here:

Final report of this project: Suivi de l’utilisationet de l’efficacité des passages à faune le longde la route 175 pour les petits et moyensmammifères. Projet R709.1. Rapport final pourle ministère des Transports, de la Mobilitédurable et de l’Électrification des transports duQuébec. Concordia University, Montréal. October2017. 494 pp. Available online on the website ofthe Centre Documentation of the MTMDET athttp://www.bv.transports.gouv.qc.ca/mono/1202547.pdfPlease contact Dr. J. Jaeger for an English copy.

Bélanger-Smith K (2015): Evaluating the effects of wildlifeexclusion fencing on road mortality for medium-sized andsmall mammals along Quebec’s Route 175. MSc thesis.Concordia University, Department of Biology. Available onlineat spectrum.library.concordia.ca/979605/

Fahrig L, Rytwinski T (2009): Effects of roads on animalabundance: An empirical review and synthesis. Ecology andSociety 14(1): 21.

Martinig AR, Bélanger-Smith K (2016): Factors influencingthe discovery and use of wildlife passages for small fauna. J.Appl. Ecol. 53: 825-836.

Plante J (2016): Caractérisation des lieux de mortalité de lafaune de petite et moyenne taille le long de la route 175,Québec. MSc thesis. Concordia University, Department ofGeography, Planning and Environment. Available online atspectrum.library.concordia.ca/981532/

Plante J, Jaeger JAG, Desrochers A: How do landscapecontext, fences, and wildlife passages influence roadkilllocations of small and medium-sized mammals? (articlesubmitted)

Rytwinski T, Fahrig L (2015): The impact of roads and trafficon terrestrial animal populations. In: van der Ree et al.:Handbook of Road Ecology. pp. 237-246.

Rytwinski T, Soanes K, Jaeger JAG, Fahrig L, Findlay CS,Houlahan J, van der Ree R, van der Grift EA (2016): Howeffective is road mitigation at reducing road-kill? A meta-analysis. PLoS ONE 11(11): e0166941.

van der Ree R, Jaeger JAG, van der Grift EA, Clevenger AP(2011): Effects of roads and traffic on wildlife populations andlandscape function: Road ecology is moving towards largerscales. Ecology and Society 16(1): 48.

van der Ree R, Smith DJ, Grilo C (eds.) (2015): Handbook ofRoad Ecology. John Wiley & Sons, Oxford.

Acknowledgements

12

Members of the project team and partners:To put this project into place, the Ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable et de l’Électrification des transports duQuébec (MTMDET) brought together a team of scientific researchers. Over the years, the team included: Dr. JochenJaeger, Concordia University; Katrina Bélanger-Smith, Judith Plante, and April Martinig, MSc students at ConcordiaUniversity; Dr. André Desrochers, Laval University, Québec; Rodrigo Lima, Robby Marrotte, and Jorge Gaitan-Camacho, research associates at Concordia University; Dr. Marianne Cheveau, researcher at the Ministère des Forêts,de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec; Carlos Zambrano, Evan Hovington, and Sarah Sherman Quirion, fieldtechnicians; Mary-Helen Paspaliaris, Honor’s student at Concordia University; Dr. Anthony P. Clevenger, WTI atMontana State University; Dr. Jeff Bowman, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Trent University, Peterborough;and various research assistants: Sandra Anastasio, Kenzie Azmi, Tanya Barr, Lisa Bidinosti, Josephine Cheng,Carling Dewar, Melanie Down, Joey O’Connor, Sarah Courtemanche, Megan Chan, Bertrand Charry, MeganDeslauriers, Valérie Hayot-Sasson, Amy Jones, Lasoi Ketere, Stephen Macfarlane, Rochelle Methot, GregorPachmann, Mary-Helen Paspaliaris, Dylan Robinson, Ariel Spanowicz, and Simon Tapper.The researchers have been supported by the members of an Enlarged Advisory Committee. This committee hasincluded representatives of the main groups and organizations affected by the project: Martin Lafrance, chargé de projetat the MTMDET; Éric Alain, Michel Michaud, Julie Boucher, and Audrey Turcotte, MTMDET; Yves Bédard,MTMDET (now retired); Héloïse Bastien, Dr. Pierre Blanchette, and Jean-François Dumont, Ministère des Forêts, dela Faune et des Parcs du Québec; Yves Leblanc, AECOM Consultants Inc.; Sylvain Boucher, Réserve faunique desLaurentides, Sépaq; Jean-Emmanuel Arsenault, Benoit Dubeau and Mathieu Brunet, Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier, Sépaq; Amélie D'Astous, Huron-Wendat Nation; Louis Desrosiers, Ville de Stoneham; André Rouleau, Parcsnationaux des Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie et des Grands-Jardins; Hugues Sansregret, Forêt Montmorency.We also are very grateful to the Patrouille Secours and Sûreté du Québec in the RFL, the Camp Mercier, the Associationrégionale des trappeurs Laurentiens, the Association forestière des deux rives (AF2R), the Zec des Martres and varioustrappers for their support. We thank the Ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable et de l’Électrification destransports du Québec (MTMDET) for funding of this research project (2012 – 2017).

PRIMARY CONTACT: jochen.jaeger@concordia.ca, (514) 848 2424 ext. 5481.You can find more information about this project in our previous 7 news bulletins:No 1: https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/980322/ No 5: https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/980317/No 2: https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/980320/ No 6: https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/980314/No 3: https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/980318/ No 7: https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/981301/No 4: https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/981336/and the final report: http://www.bv.transports.gouv.qc.ca/mono/1202547.pdf

Photo 9: Animals using the wildlife passages along HWY 175, (a) striped skunk, (b) red fox with its young.

Photos: Concordia University(a) (b)