Past, present and future land-use in the Adirondack-Laurentian Ecological Corridor: Identifying risk areas for loss of connectivity due to roads and development and proposing proactive mitigation measures

Changes in habitat amount, fragmentation, and connectivity in the Adirondacks to Laurentians (A2L) transboundary wildlife linkage

Highlights:

The Adirondack–Laurentians ecological corridor is a critical movement linkage for wildlife.
This region boasts a wide variety of habitats that still maintain a high degree of ecological integrity and are rich in biodiversity.
Population growth over the past 50 years has caused a rise in development putting the area under increased risk of habitat loss and landscape fragmentation.
This prject involves measuring changes in habitat amount, fragmentation, and connectivity in the Adirondacks to Laurentians (A2L) transboundary wildlife linkage from 1992 to 2018.
This work is conducted at three spatial scales (study area, provincial/state portion, MRC)/county) using six species (eastern wolf, black bear, fisher, moose, white-tailed deer and porcupine).
The purpose of his research is to locate priority areas for protection and ecological restoration as well as pin-point optimal sites for the placement of wildlife crossing structures and fencing.
Another aspect of this research involves the establishment of optimal configurations for wildlife crossing structures and fencing to reduce animal-vehicle collisions and increase species connectivity.