@article{ref1,
title="Maximizing the Wildlife Conservation Value of Road Right-of-Ways in an Agriculturally Dominated Landscape",
journal="PLoS one",
year="2015",
author="McCleery, Robert A. and Holdorf, Allison R. and Hubbard, Laura L. and Peer, Brian D.",
volume="10",
number="3",
pages="e0120375-e0120375",
abstract="There has been a growing recognition that the narrow linear strips of uncultivated vegetation that lie between roads and agricultural crops, referred to as roadside right-of-ways or verges, can serve as areas for the conservation of wildlife. The features of right-of-ways that should influence the composition of wildlife communities vary considerably. Our goal was to determine what features of right-of-ways increased the conservation potential of right-of-ways for wildlife in a grassland system dominated by agricultural production. We sampled 100 right-of-ways for birds and 92 right-of-ways for small mammals in McDonough and Warren Counties in west-central Illinois. We found that the sizes of right-of-ways and the amount of traffic on the adjacent roads synergistically worked to influence wildlife communities. On roads with low traffic, avian species richness increased rapidly with increased right-of-way width, while on roads with high traffic, avian richness increased only slightly with increasing right-of-way widths. We found that wider roadside right-of-ways (preferably across the road from equally wide right-of-ways) with thicker and taller vegetation had the greatest conservation value for birds and small mammals. The features that enhanced the conservation value of right-of-ways in our study area were uncommon. Efforts to create or enhance these features for the benefit of wildlife would likely face numerous obstacles. Nonetheless, from a grassland conservation perspective, working with stakeholders to implement specific strategies to enhance these often neglected areas may be an effective complement to purchasing and restoring conservation lands away from roads.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1932-6203",
doi="10.1371/journal.pone.0120375",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120375"
}