Life SciencesEcologyZoologyCommunity EcologyWildlife BiologyWildlife ManagementAnimal EcologyBird ConservationEcological ZoogeographyWildlife ConservationWildlife EcologyWildlife-habitat RelationshipsHabitat-specific DiversityInterstate SystemMammal Community StructureRoad EcologyRoadside EcologyRoadside HabitatsWildlife Mortality Patterns
Effects of highways on the diversity and spatial distribution of wildlife were studied in the southern Piedmont of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina; the Midwest Tillplain of Illinois; the valley region of Oregon between the Cascade and Coastal ranges; and the central portion of northern California. Sample plots were distributed in relation to interstate highways and county roads and extended perpendicularly from roadside edges to 400 m from each road type. Nine bird species were positively influenced and nine species negatively influenced by one or both road types during either the breeding or winter season. Small mammal community structure and abundance were influenced by roads. Grassland species generally preferred right-of-way (ROW) habitat and many less-habitat-specific species were distributed in ROW and adjacent habitat. Seventy-six percent of the road wildlife mortality was on interstate highways.