Spring Meeting-New Jersey Chapter of The Wildlife Society
TOPIC: Human infrastructure in the way: impacts of roads, towers, aircraft
et al. on wildlife and studies to mitigate their effect
When: Wednesday, April 10, 2013; 9:30-3:30.
Where: NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife Assunpink Conservation Center,
Upper Freehold Twp., Monmouth County
Location of Assunpink Conservation Center:
-Take Rt. I-195 to Exit 11 (Imlaystown/Cox Corner)
-End of ramp take Hightstown Rd. north
-At stop sign go across Rt. 524
-At first intersection past little bridge make a right
-Enter Assunpink WMA, go past new office
-Conservation Center is located on the right at bend in the road
Lunch: Lunch will be provided at the Conservation Center for a reasonable fee.
To obtain a head count for lunch, please contact Ted Nichols at 609-628-3218 or at
ted.nichols@comcast.net if you plan on attending.
MEETING AGENDA
9:30-10:00
NJTWS business meeting
Evan Madlinger, NJTWS President
10:00 – 12:00 and 1:00 – 3:30
PRESENTATIONS
Vegetation Management on Transmission Line Corridors in New Jersey: Improving
Conditions for Species of Greatest Conservation Need
Kristin Munafo, Gylla MacGregor, John Cecil and David Mizrahi, New Jersey Audubon
As a group, scrub-shrub birds have experienced significant population declines, and many
species have been identified as threatened, endangered, or species of conservation concern at
state, regional, and national levels. Species declines coincide with a reduction in the amount of
early successional habitat in the eastern US, and long-term conservation of these species will
require active management of disturbance-generated, early successional habitats. Because utility
rights-of-way (ROW) are permanently managed in an early successional stage, they have the
potential to provide important habitat for early successional wildlife species, given the right
management regime. New Jersey Audubon (NJA) is working collaboratively with Public
Service Electric and Gas (PSEG) to evaluate the effects of vegetation maintenance activities on
target wildlife species in the New Jersey Highlands and to develop management strategies for
1
ROW corridors that provide the greatest benefit to wildlife populations, while satisfying the
company’s regulatory requirements for vegetation management. We are implementing a
"Before-After-Control-Impact" (BACI) survey design, in which we have (1) quantified
vegetation characteristics and the abundance and distribution of target species prior to
maintenance activities on selected ROW spans, (2) made treatment recommendations for
management of these spans, and then (3) conducted initial post-maintenance assessments
following treatment completion of maintenance activities. We will continue to conduct similar
assessments for 3-5 years to document changes in vegetation and concurrently, any changes in
target populations. We also selected a number of non-ROW scrub-shrub points as controls and
are conducting similar assessments on those points. In 2011, we initiated pre-maintenance
surveys. In 2012, we conducted post-maintenance surveys on these spans, and continued premaintenance surveys on a new set of ROW spans. Preliminary results suggest a diversity of
target species are using these ROW habitats, including: Golden-winged Warbler, Blue-winged
Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Eastern Towhee, and a variety of other early
successional species. The BACI design, coupled with a Structured Decision Making process,
will allow us to identify the most effective management alternatives, model predicted outcomes
and develop recommendations that provide the greatest potential for meeting PSEG's need to
maintain vegetation, while benefitting target wildlife species using ROW habitats.
New Jersey Habitat Connectivity Plan
Gretchen Fowles and Brian Zarate, NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife
Abstract: Landscape permeability is critical to the persistence of many wildlife species. New
Jersey is facing increasing habitat loss and fragmentation from steady urbanization, a dense
network of roads, and a changing climate that are compromising the connectivity of habitat and
wildlife populations. We have formed a working group comprised of representative
organizations with the ability to implement connectivity actions on the ground to develop a
Statewide Habitat Connectivity Plan. The plan will serve as a blueprint for strategic habitat
conservation and will highlight additional actions necessary to restore and maintain critical
habitat corridors for terrestrial wildlife. The end products of this effort will consist of: 1) a
statewide map depicting key ecological corridors for terrestrial wildlife, and 2) a menu of
implementation actions relating to each identified corridor that will provide guidance on how to
protect the land, restore and maintain the habitat, and mechanisms to facilitate movement of
wildlife successfully across roads. These products are intended to allow land-use, conservation,
and transportation planning to operate in a more collaborative way, that reduces conflicts, saves
money, increases driver safety, and ultimately improves the prospects for the long-term
sustainability of New Jersey’s terrestrial wildlife.
Roads Crossing Stream Corridors: Considerations of Culvert Designs to Enhance Wildlife
Use
Ellen Creveling, New Jersey Chapter of The Nature Conservancy
While the impacts of large barriers like dams on river health and water quality can be obvious,
the impacts of road-stream crossings on stream health tend to be more subtle. However, the tens
of thousands of structures that allow roads to cross streams in New Jersey can negatively affect
the upstream/downstream connectivity of river systems, sometimes disrupting water flow,
2
sediment and nutrient transport, and passage by both aquatic and terrestrial wildlife. Work
completed by the University of Massachusetts Extension, The Nature Conservancy, and a
number of private and public partners has helped to assess the fragmenting effects of these
structures on aquatic habitat in several northeastern states. Insights gained from those efforts
have led to prioritized restoration projects and new standards for ecological crossing designs that,
in some cases, are now required through revised permits. In order to restore the most affected
streams and to ensure that newly-installed culverts do not have adverse impacts, The Nature
Conservancy in New Jersey has recently been working with NJ State partners to collect data on
the effects of our state’s road/stream crossing structures. With the completion of pilot surveys in
four watersheds, we are starting to understand some of the issues present in different
geographies. This information will help us to gauge the extent of negative impacts, which will
help inform potential design standards that will ensure ecologically-friendly structures are
installed in the future.
Wildlife Guardians Project: Improving Permeability of Wildlife Habitats in NJ
Kelly Triece*, Natalie Sherwood, Meiyin Wu, Gretchen Fowles, Brian Zarate
*M.S. Ecology and Evolution, Montclair State University
Abstract: No ecosystem on Earth is free from disturbance caused by human actions. These
human impacts are threatening biological systems that sustain populations on Earth, and its
consequences are significant and extremely intricate. Habitat fragmentation has a large negative
impact on biodiversity; animals need to be able to move through the landscape to find food,
mates, and other resources. Human transportation roadways often intersect habitats and reduce
wildlife habitat permeability; therefore, long-term persistence of populations is jeopardized. New
Jersey's extensive road network has been shown to impact wildlife populations in multiple ways,
including direct mortality of individuals and creating barriers to wildlife movement and genetic
exchange. Wildlife Guardians Project aims to identify wildlife crossing and mortality hotspots by
surveying selected road segments three times per week from March to May 2013. Evidence of
wildlife crossing and road mortality will be recorded and photographed. The results of this
project will be integrated into New Jersey’s Habitat Connectivity Project and used to 1) identify
and validate GIS-modeled movement corridors, 2) prioritize wildlife crossing hotspots for
supplemental monitoring, when applicable, and 3) inform road infrastructure mitigation
strategies to reduce future vehicle-wildlife conflicts.
Surviving Salt: Impact of Road De-icers on New Jersey Amphibian Species
Lisa Hazard and Kevin Jamieson, Montclair State University
ABSTRACT: Application of road de-icers during winter storms has been carried out for
decades, but accumulated salts have been shown to have potentially detrimental ecological
effects. Salts may contaminate local watersheds to levels high enough to potentially impact
amphibian populations through lethal or sublethal effects on eggs, larvae, or adult life stages.
Selection of inappropriate breeding and oviposition sites by adults could therefore greatly
decrease egg and larval survival, since larval amphibians are often sensitive to even modest
salinity increases. We tested adults of several amphibian species from the northeastern United
States to determine whether they showed behavioral aversion to increased salinity, and if so, at
what threshold concentration. Animals (wood frogs, Lithobates sylvaticus; green frogs,
3
Lithobates clamitans; bullfrogs, Lithobates catesbeianus; northern leopard frogs, Lithobates
pipiens; northern grey tree frogs, Hyla versicolor; spotted salamanders, Ambystoma maculatum;
eastern newts, Notophthalmus viridescens) were individually placed in a two-compartment test
chamber containing aged tap water on one side and a salt solution ranging from 0 to 500 mM
(approximately equivalent to sea water) on the other side. Location and behaviors were recorded
during 10-minute trials, and threshold concentrations for aversion were established. Species
differences in threshold aversion concentrations were observed; some species (e.g. spotted
salamanders) showed strong aversion to even low concentrations while others (wood frogs)
showed no aversion to salinities as high as sea water. Species with higher behavioral thresholds
may attempt to breed in habitats unsuitable for successful egg and larval development. Tests of
adult physiological tolerance are underway. These results will help predict current and future
impacts of increased habitat salinity on amphibian communities, including projections of which
species may be more vulnerable to salt-related population declines. Conservation efforts aimed
at minimizing salt application or runoff in critical areas may be warranted to minimize effects on
more vulnerable species.
Dams: The ultimate road block to migrating fish and how to get rid of them
Eric Schrading, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Dams were built for a variety of reasons, many at the beginning of this nation’s history. They
were built for mechanical power (mills), navigation canals, industrial uses, and later
hydroelectric and flood control. But many relic dams remain in place, but no longer serve their
original purpose. However, these dams continue to have significant cumulative impacts on a
variety of New Jersey’s diadromous fish (such as American eel, blueback herring, alewife, and
American shad). In addition, dams have additional impacts such as preventing resident fish
(such as trout and bass) and aquatic organisms from movement within the river, increasing local
flooding by maintaining higher water surface elevations, and preventing natural sediment
transport in the river. A collaborative approach is needed to remove unused and unwanted dams
in New Jersey. This approach partners dam owners with federal and State agencies, conservation
and watershed organizations, and private corporations to share funds and in-kind services to
remove these aquatic road blocks and return rivers to their natural course.
EFFECTS OF HUMAN INFRASTRUCTURE ON BLACK DUCK HABITAT USE AND
CARRYING CAPACITY?
Dane M. Cramer*, Ryan A. Boyer*, John M. Coluccy*, Paul Castelli, (U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service, E.B. Forsythe NWR), and Christopher Williams (University of
Delaware)
4
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
Abstract: During the last 200 years, a dramatic amount of coastal wetlands have been destroyed
or degraded as a result of urban, industrial, and agricultural development. The direct, and often
times irreversible loss of wetland habitat has negative impacts on wintering waterfowl
populations and carrying capacity. However, the juxtaposition of development amongst the
remaining habitat is also likely to reduce carrying capacity of wetland habitat, but its impact is
far less discernible. How individual waterfowl orient themselves on this highly altered landscape
is a particularly important consideration for accurately quantifying the availability of habitat and
thereby assessing the ability of the landscape to support wintering waterfowl populations.
For planning purposes, resource managers need to understand how waterfowl separate
themselves from development and how this influences the availability of habitat for them to
extract critical food resources from. At the core of bioenergetics modeling is the availability of
habitat, and not accurately quantifying this variable is likely to lead to overestimates of carrying
capacity and potential misallocations of conservation efforts.
Waterfowl avoid unnecessary activity during winter in an effort to conserve energy. Disturbance
increases the amount of time waterfowl must spend in these types of activities. Avoidance
behavior is learned when the perceived cost to extract resources exceeds the benefits garnered.
Research has demonstrated that waterfowl avoid disturbances at varying distances based on the
type of disturbance. We assumed that disturbances resulting from human activity varied with
land use types. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between used habitat and land use
type to estimate the amount of avoided, but previously considered available, habitat.
Much of the landscape adjoining coastal wetland habitats important to American black ducks
(Anas rubripes) wintering in southern New Jersey is highly developed. Residential and
commercial development and their associated infrastructure (e.g. roads, railways, and utility
corridors) are prevalent. We used a sample of radio-marked American black ducks in the winters
of 2006–07 and 2007–08 (n = 35) to estimate locations. We reclassified the 2007 New Jersey
Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) dataset into one habitat type and four non-habitat types and the
2000 Census Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) /Line
dataset into four additional non-habitat types. In a geographic information system we measured
the distance between observed locations and the nearest non-habitat types to determine how
waterfowl wintering on a developed landscape avoided disturbance and to what degree.
Determining the effects of disturbance has historically been approached on a local scale (e.g.
refuges or specific stopover areas). Our work attempts to quantify the cumulative impacts of
disturbance based on its relationship to land use at a landscape scale. The results of our research
will allow managers to make better informed decisions when developing carrying capacity
models. Buffering avoided land uses based on our empirical data has the potential to reduce the
amount of habitat formerly considered available in bioenergetics models, thus reducing estimates
of carrying capacity and population goals. This information is also practical for planning
conservation based on how a population orients itself on a highly developed landscape. For
instance, restoration work adjacent to a strongly avoided land use need to consider use of
barriers. Alternatively, managers should prioritize restoration work completed in an area adjacent
5
to a land use with fewer disturbances. For the same reason this information would be useful for
establishing refuge. For areas under pressure of future development, this information will be
valuable for determining appropriate setbacks and revisiting mitigation requirements so as not to
exclude waterfowl from areas or resources.
The effect of roads on the movement of the Northern Pine Snake
Dane Ward and Walter Bien, Drexel University
Abstract: Paved and unpaved roads can act as barriers to ecosystem connectivity linkages.
Increased road density contributes to habitat fragmentation, wildlife mortality, loss of genetic
corridors, and decreased reproductive success. Roads represent a major threat to slow moving
herpetofauna that are extremely vulnerable to vehicular road injuries and death. Of 536 reported
occurrences for northern pine snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus) in the New Jersey biotics
database 120, or 23%, were dead on road (NJDEP, 2009). We examined the mean rate of
movement of the northern pine snake across three different substrates: sand, asphalt, and
concrete. We tested twelve snakes (n=12) in spring, summer, and fall 2012 at the Warren Grove
Gunnery Range (WGR), Burlington County New Jersey. Snakes had the fastest rate of
movement across sand (x̄=0.11m/s) compared to paved substrates: asphalt (0.09m/s) and
concrete (0.06m/s). These data suggest that coarser substrates facilitate increased mobility of
snakes. In addition, we examined whether snakes would move through under-road-culverts. We
installed nine 12-inch diameter culverts under a new military runway at WGR to monitor wildlife
movements. We documented 364 ‘visits’ at the mouth of the culverts and 54 ‘usage’ events
(14.8% culvert usage by visiting fauna, including snakes). These data support that culverts are a
viable option for mitigating road impacts to wildlife. To better understand the impact of roads on
genetic exchange of pine snakes a landscape genetic study is warranted.
INCREASING STAKEHOLDER SUPPORT THROUGH A COMMUNITY BASED
CANADA GOOSE HAZARD MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AT TETERBORO
AIRPORT
Pam L. Phillips (Port Authority of NY & NJ), Kimberly Gurlavich*, and Andrew
Clapper*; *USDA-APHIS-WS
Abstract. More than eight and half million people reside in the state of New Jersey, making it
the most densely populated state in the nation. New Jersey also supports the highest population
of Canada geese in the Atlantic Flyway. The combination of the two results in increased wildlifehuman conflicts. Teterboro Airport (TEB) is a certificated general aviation reliever airport
designed to reduce congestion within the NY-NJ Airport System. Located across the Hudson
River from New York City, TEB averages 150,000 aircraft movements a year. In 2009, after
flight 1549 miraculously landed in the Hudson River upon striking a flock of Canada geese, the
Port Authority of NY & NJ, TEB staff and WS biologists began a proactive community based
program to manage hazards created by Canada geese. This cooperative community based
approach involves more than 30 municipalities, as well as numerous federal and state
government agencies, special interest groups, and private environmental firms involved with an
ecologically significant wetland mitigation site located within one mile of TEB. Collaboration
includes monthly coordinated meetings, habitat manipulation, nest and egg management to
6
control reproduction, local goose population reduction, as well as outreach and education to the
surrounding stakeholders. With New Jersey’s resident Canada goose population at nearly 76,000,
the program continues to gain interest and grow as it benefits both TEB and adjacent landowners
in the reduction of goose damage. To date coordinated efforts have yielded the removal of 2,200
geese and the identification of 350 nests, containing 1700 eggs that have been treated.
Increasing stakeholder support through a community based approach has united a diverse group
of landowners in a collaborative effort of wildlife hazard management both on and off the
airfield.
7