Wildlife CorridorsWildlife corridors are one or more pieces of undeveloped land and water that connect fragmented habitats, allowing wildlife to move freely between them. Traveling between fragmented habitats can be especially dangerous for wildlife and humans. This is usually a problem for wildlife when highways, fences, agricultural businesses, and even dams are built.
Wildlife corridors are critical to our environment and the organisms within. Some organisms need to be able to travel and move around; however, with more and more human development, wildlife has been restricted in their movements. This does not only apply to terrestrial organisms but aquatic and semi-aquatic organisms as well. Fish can be affected by fragmented habitats, and biologists are researching ways to build aquatic corridors. Rivers are considered a natural corridor for animal migration routes and can also serve other purposes for organisms in that ecosystem. Many species of fish use rivers or streams for mating, feeding, and seasonal migration.
Studies in western North Dakota have shown that highways and fences can cause fragmented habitats for organisms. For example, the North Dakota Game and Fish and other agencies are researching and studying the effects of wildlife corridors or crossings under U.S. Highway 85. The positive effects these corridors have on game species and non-game species are presented by the trail-camera pictures that monitor the corridors. These pictures highlight the corridors’ use by multiple ungulate species during daily movements and migrations. Furthermore, this study highlights the positive effects corridors have on animal movements and decreases in animal-vehicle collisions.
However, there are some disadvantages to wildlife corridors since connecting habitats could include the spread of disease, predators, and invasive species. Biologists and ecologists have been studying the most effective various sizes and boundaries for corridors in order to avoid negatively impacting the ecosystem, such as the effects of hard and soft edges. Hard and soft edges refers to the boundary of the corridor and the surrounding habitat, specifically how abruptly or tapered the transition between the two are. Only one study primarily focused on the negative effects wildlife corridors had on its ecosystem, in which Downes et al. studied exotic black rat (Rattus rattus) abundance in a corridor in southeastern Australia, and how their abundance affects the utility of the corridor by the native bush rat (Rattus fuscipes). This study showed the negative effects the corridors had on a native population when an invasive, more aggressive species was introduced into the same habitat space. The negative effects Downes et al. discovered indicate that researchers need to conduct further studies so that we can fully understand the possible negative impact corridors present.
©2025 ClimateLit (Gavin Caruso)
More Resources: