Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers developed an affordable model that promotes eco-friendly connection by integrating wildlife management in land-use preparation, concentrating on the Oak Ridge Reservation. The structure uses preservation measures like buffers and open-bottom culverts, gaining from 30 years of information from the booking.
Designing Healthier Habitats on Managed Lands
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers developed a design structure that determines ways to guarantee wildlife can safely browse their habitats while not unduly impacting infrastructure.
The project fixated the 32,000-acre Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, home to Department of Energy facilities and several at-risk species like the four-toed salamander.
Scientists identified environments and simulated services like preservation buffers and open-bottom culverts to permit safe passage for salamanders and other wildlife, which cost far less than large-scale barrier removal and likewise boost ecological connection.
Adult four-toed salamanders, Hemidactylium scutatum, are among the at-risk species surviving on the Oak Ridge Reservation. Researchers and center supervisors interacted to create a structure that advises cost-efficient services to protect environments for the salamander and other fish and wildlife. Credit: Bryce Wade/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
” Development and environmental sustainability dont have to be at odds,” stated ORNLs Evin Carter. “Our collective method with job supervisors and engineers reveals wildlife management can be an important part of land-use preparation without introducing undue cost or hold-ups.”
ORNL doctoral student Bryce Wade said the design also benefited from 30 years of high-resolution information available because of the reservations history and management as a National Environmental Research Park.
Recommendation: “Advancing wildlife connection in land use planning: a case research study with four-toed salamanders” by Bryce S. Wade, Evin T. Carter, Christopher R. Derolph, Greg Byrd, Sarah E. Darling, Lindsey E. Hayter, R. Trent Jett, Jamie M. Herold and Neil R. Giffen, 20 June 2023, The Journal of Wildlife Management.DOI: 10.1002/ jwmg.22456.